Nevada’s educashun, er, education shortcomings at center of Rory Reid campaign

Democratic gubernatorial candidate Rory Reid is highlighting a new report that says just 41.8 percent of Nevada public school students graduate from high school, a number that puts Nevada dead last in the nation.

The report by Education Week ranked Nevada 51st out of 50 states plus the District of Columbia in terms of percentage of graduates and highlighted Clark County as one of the "dropout epicenters," which means it is among the 25 school districts in America that collectively contribute one in five of the nation's dropouts. (report here)

"This is not just a moral failure, it’s an economic one,” Reid said in a written statement. “We will never have a first-rate economy if we continue to accept second-rate schools. Businesses will not come to Nevada if we aren’t producing the workforce they need. Executives and workers will not come to Nevada if we don’t provide good schools for their children."

Reid is trailing Republican Brian Sandoval by double-digit percentage points in statewide polls. In an effort to gain ground, he's highlighting a plan to transform Nevada's schools he calls Economic Development through Great Education, or EDGE.

It's a plan to shift decision-making power and accountability from school district bureaucracies to individual principals, teachers and parents that Reid says will pay for itself through efficiency savings and improve outcomes. (read plan here)

Reid's Web site also seeks to take apart Sandoval's statements on education (read here), most of which are culled from an earlier Sandoval plan to offer ideas to help the state balance its short-term revenue shortfall which included possible savings on education spending. (Sandoval deficit plan)

Sandoval's campaign is working on an education plan of its own and had considered completing it before the primary, according to campaign sources. They held off because they wanted to keep the focus on the primary campaign to oust incumbent Republican Gov. Jim Gibbons, which they did in decisive fashion by getting 56 percent of the Republican vote to 27 percent for Gibbons.

Since then, Sandoval's campaign has decided to develop their education plan further and expect to have it ready for the public within about 10 days.

"We're not in a hurry to do it, we want to do it when it is completed," Sandoval adviser Pete Ernaut said.

Although Reid is out in front of Sandoval with his education plan, he still faces a difficult challenge in catching up with the Republican in opinion polls.

That's because there is little to distinguish Reid and Sandoval on some big issues, each candidate has said raising taxes won't help the state and that schools need to improve.

Eric Herzik, a professor of political science at University of Nevada, Reno, said Reid's policy positions are ones Sandoval "can just as easily copy."

Herzik said by coming out with a moderate, money-saving plan for education that's been complimented by liberals and conservatives Reid "gave Sandoval a gift."

No matter who ultimately wins the gubernatorial election, the Education Week report makes it clear the next governor will face schools that are delivering abysmal results.

There's a 40-percentage point gap in graduation rates between Nevada and New Jersey, the leader among states with a rate of 83.3 percent. And Nevada's rate has been in severe decline in recent years.

From 1997 to 2007, the most recent year for data in the report, Nevada's rate fell 23.9 percentage points. The next-biggest decline in that time frame was Nebraska at 5.5 percentage points.