EDITORIAL: Optimism reigns as bell rings on another school year

Kids are back in class this week, as the Clark County School District began a new school year Monday. Officials issued the usual warnings to Las Vegas drivers about obeying school speed zones, particularly after a tragic traffic accident in May took the life of an Arbor View High School student.

This will mark the first full year at the helm for Superintendent Jhone Ebert, who ascended to her position in March. Ms. Ebert has yeoman’s work to do if the district is to improve its poor academic reputation. Not surprisingly, she preferred to emphasize the positive as classrooms reopened.

“We want to make sure that we have academic success and that we have joy in the classroom,” she said, adding, “We know only about 30 percent of our kids go on to college, and we know that they can also be successful in the workforce here within Clark County. Our job is to make sure when they graduate they have the skill set to build a home, a life and a future.”

Ms. Ebert highlighted strides the district has made in attracting and retaining licensed teachers. It has been commonplace for local schools to struggle with high vacancy rates. Not this year. The teacher retention rate is up 6 percentage points, and 97 percent of classrooms have a licensed teacher, a significant jump over last year. The district also just reached a tentative new contract with the Clark County Education Association, assuring labor peace.

Perhaps of greatest importance, Ms. Ebert vows that proficiency rates will soon exceed pre-pandemic levels. She believes that the expansion of pre-K education will eventually improve third-grade reading scores — although studies are a mixed bag, at best, when it comes to tying these programs to long-term academic gains. (see: Headstart).

Ms. Ebert is saying all the right things. But academic achievement levels remain a serious concern. Test scores for the 2023-24 calendar year showed that fewer than one-third of students in third through eighth grade were proficient in math, and only 39 percent made the cut in English language arts. Results for high school students were even more discouraging, with just 19.4 percent scoring high enough to be considered proficient in math. ACT results — measuring college readiness — revealed that only 20 percent of district 11th graders made the grade in math and fewer than half in English language arts.

Ms. Ebert has been knee-deep in this mess for decades, both as a local teacher and administrator and later as the state superintendent of education. She’ll need to risk alienating the hidebound education establishment if she truly hopes to deliver on her promises of improving student performance.

But as the bell rings in a new school year, optimism reigns supreme.