State’s schools earn D
For the second year in a row, Nevada ranks 50th in the nation in the quality of its public K-12 education, superior only to the District of Columbia, according to Quality Counts 2010, the annual survey by Education Week magazine.
The survey gives Nevada an overall report card score of D. The nation, as a whole, earned a C. Maryland got the highest grade with a B plus, followed by Massachusetts and New York, which both got B's.
The Silver State's overall score was dragged down in four main categories as Nevada got D's in students' potential for success, K-12 achievement, alignment or matching teachers with student need and school finance. Nevada ranks 48th in the nation in education spending.
Nevada did marginally better in the teaching profession, which got a C minus, but was penalized for not tying teacher evaluations to student performance.
The state also did OK with testing policies, getting a C plus for "standards and assessments." State Superintendent Keith Rheault noted that fourth and eighth grade math scores have been on the rise.
Terri Janison, president of the Clark County School Board, noted that Nevada educators did better in the categories in which "we have some control over."
Janison said her "frustration over the years" is that educators are held accountable for factors beyond their control.
For example, Nevada is 50th in the nation for "linguistic integration," as only 72 percent of parents are fluent in English, Rheault said.
The state is also last in the nation in parent education, as only 33 percent of parents have a degree earned after high school. Family income is about average for the nation, however, as 60.4 percent of household income is at least 200 percent above the poverty line.
Nevada ranks at the bottom with North Dakota in not providing funding for preschool education for 3- and 4-year-olds.
The state superintendent linked educational success to investment.
"It takes some money to do these things," Rheault said.
The report's finance information is from 2007, prior to the budget cuts over the last two years. Because more cuts might be necessary, school finance "doesn't look like it will improve any time soon," Rheault said.
Contact reporter James Haug at jhaug @reviewjournal.com or 702-374-7917.
