Nevada’s new superintendent

A new law gives the governor the authority to appoint the state superintendent of schools. Previously, the position was filled by the State Board of Education.

On Monday, Gov. Brian Sandoval announced the appointment of James W. Guthrie to the post effective April 2. He replaces Keith Rheault, who is retiring.

Mr. Guthrie features an impressive resume and, if his writings are any indication, he won't be afraid to challenge the shibboleths of an entrenched education establishment.

Mr. Guthrie has a bachelor's degree, master's degree and a doctorate from Stanford University and was a professor at the University of California, Berkeley for 27 years. For the past two years, he has served as the first appointed senior fellow and director of education policy studies at the George W. Bush Institute at the Southern Methodist University.

He's on record with a number of interesting viewpoints.

"America's schools have always been well funded, despite the claims of school funding advocates who persistently assert that the nation shortchanges its students," he wrote in 2009, noting that per pupil spending has increased in virtually every year for the past century, even when controlled for inflation. "Additionally, the misguided practice of using spending amounts as a measure of school quality has helped protect local school-funding levels from any effort to reasonably adjust them."

On the issue of teacher training, Mr. Guthrie has harsh words for colleges of education.

"America does not now need education schools," he wrote. "They add little and cost a great deal. They are unable to attract talented entrants and fail to add value to their graduates. ...

"Ed schools presently benefit from a lack of public accountability, low political visibility, public policy inertia, and iron triangle protectionism provided by self-interested coalitions of executive branch credentialing managers, teacher union officials attempting to restrain labor market entry, and a few aligned legislators," he went on. "If ever subjected to performance accountability, intense high politics, or partisan scrutiny, this protective shield would likely fade quickly."

Mr. Guthrie has specific ideas about education reform efforts. He favors "coherent and comprehensive" strategies that include "more rigorous and visible performance standards, promotion of institutional competition and innovation (and the) recruitment and reward of talented leaders." Pursuit of reform is vital, he argues, because "regardless of the measures involved, student achievement results reflect four decades of abject stagnation."

The selection of Mr. Guthrie represents yet another indication that Gov. Sandoval is serious about pulling Nevada's public schools out of the morass.