94°F
weather icon Partly Cloudy

Nevada Democrats try to quash Read By 3

Congratulations to legislative Democrats, who recently proposed that third-graders who are not proficient in reading should not repeat the third grade. Do these lawyers somehow believe that students who have difficulty reading will magically become more proficient readers simply because they have been promoted to the fourth grade? The facts say otherwise.

Sadly only 31 percent of fourth-graders are proficient in reading and only 28 percent of eighth-graders make the grade. Is this the way the Clark County School District prepares students for the more challenging high-paying jobs of the future?

I ask state Democrats and district trustees to solve this equation: cannot read at third grade level = move to fourth grade = struggle through eighth grade = 72 percent chance of not reading at eighth-grade level = four times more likely to drop out of high school. Answer: a difficult life with limited earning potential.

MOST READ
Don't miss the big stories. Like us on Facebook.
THE LATEST
LETTER: The art of the kneel

I don’t know what was worse at the Alaska summit, an American president being humiliated by a former KGB agent or the press coverage.

LETTER: Las Vegas vets should do their part to prevent animal cruelty

Recently, two pieces of information came across my radar that, taken together, prompted me to call out the role veterinarians play in creating conditions which make animal abuse much more likely than it might be otherwise.

LETTER: Aaron Ford has been a little too busy

Is anyone else getting tired of reading how many lawsuits Nevada Attorney General Aaron Ford is involved in against the Trump administration?

LETTER: Say goodbye to Las Vegas table games

Regarding the article in your Aug. 12 business section about downtown casino owner Derek Stevens replacing table games at one of his properties with “high energy” slot machines: What a crock.

LETTER: A tale of two gerrymanders

If Mr. Jaffe’s goal is to rally readers against partisan gerrymandering, his argument would be far more compelling if it condemned abuses on both sides —especially when the offense in his own backyard is even more blatant.

LETTER: Let’s get serious about traffic enforcement

Rising traffic fatalities and pedestrian deaths dominate local headlines, and the RTC’s Safe Streets for All initiative is gathering public input. Awareness is not the problem — action is.

MORE STORIES