Elaine Wynn presses legislators on education reforms

CARSON CITY -- Las Vegas gaming executive Elaine Wynn called on legislators Wednesday to move Nevada off its bottom ranking in several student achievement areas.

"I am extremely embarrassed coming from the state with the worst record of high school graduation," Wynn told a joint hearing of the Senate and Assembly education committees.

Wynn said she is horrified by an Education Week study that found Nevada students have the least chance of success of any students in the United States.

She and Nevada System of Higher Education Chancellor Dan Klaich co-chaired an Education Reform Blue Ribbon Task Force that last year developed reforms to improve education in the state. They presented their findings to the education committees.

"We are not here talking about money, we are here talking about reforms," Klaich said. "There is nothing we can do to improve higher education more than improve the pipeline of students moving through K-12 education."

Wynn said the state first needs to change how public education is regulated.

Instead of an elected State Board of Education, her task force recommended a three-member board appointed by the governor and leaders of the Senate and Assembly.

And instead of having a state superintendent of public instruction who now reports to the Board of Education, the task force wants a state education director who reports to the governor.

"We need a single point of responsibility for management of the entire system," Wynn said. "The ultimate responsibility should rest with the governor as CEO of the state."

Wynn contended that now the only governance that the Legislature holds over public education is "signing checks."

The task force also recommended creating more charter schools and allowing public schools that are persistently failing the federal No Child Left Behind Act to become charter schools, giving them more freedom to implement change.

As part of their evaluations, teachers and principals would be analyzed for their efforts to increase parental involvement. Teachers also would provide evaluation of principals. The task force also called for more "data-driven" evaluations of teachers.

Assemblywoman Dina Neal, D-North Las Vegas, asked where in their report was the "education rubric" to improve student performance.

"Where is the plan to bridge the gap when students are two years or three years behind in curriculum?" she asked.

Christopher Cross, a former deputy U.S. secretary of education who advised the task force, said the members did not have the expertise or time to come up with such details, but they called for the creation of teacher and leader councils that could propose specific changes to improve student achievement.

Assemblyman Harvey Munford, D-Las Vegas, a retired Clark County teacher, said he feels a "personal attack as a teacher" from the findings in the report.

"Teachers work pretty hard. They care. Principals care. No one really has the answer," Munford said.

He questioned why former teachers were not on the task force. The only teacher on the Wynn panel was Lynn Warne from Washoe County. She is president of the Nevada State Education Association.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.