Wednesday, March 12, 2003
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

1,000 turn out in support of schools

Speakers decry proposed cuts in programs

Six-year-old Erin Cranor, a first-grader at Tomiyasu Elementary, reads a book in the Green Valley High School gym Tuesday during a meeting in which the Clark County School District asked parents to prioritize school programs. Photo by K.M. Cannon.

Parents, teachers, counselors, school police and students were among the more than 1,000 people who poured into a high school gym Tuesday to defend school programs and plead with the school district and state lawmakers to ensure schools have enough money to teach their children.

Jessica Gobles' voice cracked as she fought speaking of her son and daughter who need special education programs to help them learn.

"He's not a dumb kid. He just learns by a different method," she said of her son, Ian Gobles, 8. "We are shooting ourselves in the feet to cut these special programs."

Tuesday's gathering at Green Valley High School in Henderson was the third of four public meetings scheduled to let parents and students help prioritize public school programs and expenditures. The final meeting will be at 6:30 p.m. today at Chaparral High School.

Marlene Powell, who has a son in second grade, told school board members and administrators she would be willing to volunteer in their offices so they could take pay cuts and save the district some money that could go to programs potentially on the chopping block.

"I also know you all have cars you drive around the district," she said. "Get rid of 'em."

School Superintendent Carlos Garcia has said that, as of July 1, the fleet of about 200 vehicles owned by the district for administrative uses will be eliminated. The change is expected to save about $1 million.

Lawmakers are debating tax increases worth $1 billion proposed by Gov. Kenny Guinn. The governor says the money is needed to make up a current budget deficit and to fund new programs and enrollment growth in the state's public schools and university system.

Garcia has said the school district's portion of the state's projected $700 million budget deficit would be about $220 million in the 2003-05 biennium.

Unless the governor's proposal is adopted, Garcia said, the district will have to cut programs to educate thousands of new students and pay the new teachers that would need to be hired.

The superintendent delivered another impassioned speech Tuesday, after which the crowd burst into applause and gave him a standing ovation.

"If I sound a little bit upset about this, I am," he said.

He later said he was pleased to see so many attend the meeting.

"It's great to see our community cares enough to show up and make a stand to show our state legislators that our children deserve much more than this," he said.

Lisa McAllister, a parent of three, said she wasn't the least bit surprised by the turnout at the meeting.

"I knew it would be this crowded," she said. "I'm on the PTA for Estes McDaniel (Elementary) and we made a concerted effort to call parents and tell them to make it to the meeting."

McAllister said it was important to attend to get a better sense of whether these meetings were a scare tactic for support of the governor's budget proposal or the district's chance to clarify why it is in such dire financial straights.

"I think, mainly, this was meant to get everybody involved," she said.

Just about everybody was involved. School counselors made appeals for their jobs, saying they are the "heart" of the school and that they teach "emotional intelligence." Physical education teachers, librarians and bilingual education teachers made similar pleas, each describing how they help children succeed.

As he did the night before at Clark High School, Garcia asked those at Tuesday's meeting to fill out forms rating a list of 55 district expenditures. The forms asked whether the programs should be maintained, reduced or eliminated. He also issued a questionnaire that polled parents on potential alternatives to budget cuts. Those options include reducing the school week from five six-hour days to four 7 1/2-hour days; "pay for play" for music programs and sports; increasing lab fees; requiring deposits for textbooks; paying for school bus transportation; and increasing summer school tuition.

Autumn White, whose sixth-grade daughter is in orchestra, said she opposes "pay for play" options because it would mean "the disadvantaged just stay disadvantaged in school."

"If the family can't provide that fee for their children, it's not fair to the kids," White said.