Vegas parents adding volume to chorus of education concerns

Inside the George Harris Elementary School library, the year's first meeting of the PTA comes to order.

About 25 moms -- and a few dads -- snack on pink punch and cookies. They review their annual budget: about $14,400. That's the school's cut after kids sold $36,000 worth of candy and wrapping paper this fall.

Teacher Annette Smith, who works with the school's rapidly growing population of Spanish-speaking students, pleads with the PTA for $1,200 for books.

"We have a need," Smith said. "The materials aren't there. We (the district) just don't have the money."

The PTA unanimously approves the expenditure.

"You bet we'll give her the money," Zoe Albright, an active parent in the organization, said. "But where is the school district? Where are the politicians?"

It's election season, and parents are weighing in on one of the hottest topics in America: education. From soccer fields to open house-meetings, parents in Clark County have a mouthful of concerns -- and a few compliments -- they want to share with their elected officials.

The concerns range from crossing-guard shortages to crowded classrooms.

"No school is big enough anymore," Albright said. "New and old, they are all bursting at the seams."

Class sizes seem to worry many of the parents interviewed recently. The state Legislature has provided money to reduce class sizes in first, second and third grades. But many want smaller classes in all grades.

"When you have 26 kids trying to learn about the world, and you are trying to teach them numbers and letters, it's really tough on the teacher with a class that big," said Lori Naegle, who has a kindergartner at Harris.

At C.C. Ronnow Elementary School on a recent evening, PTA leader Moises Denis conducts the school's first PTA meeting in both Spanish and English.

He said many parents worry about whether their children are learning English fast enough.

"If they could snap their fingers and have their children know English, they would," Denis said. "Hispanic parents know that if they are to succeed here, they have to learn English."

Still, most of the 40 parents gathered with their children in the school's multipurpose room speak only Spanish.

Denis said that because many Spanish-speaking parents want their children to be immersed in English, they question the district's practice of starting them out in bilingual classes in which Spanish is spoken.

Children are then transitioned to English Language Learner, or ELL, programs in which both languages are used. By the end of fifth grade, students are mainstreamed into regular English-only classrooms.

Denis, who is also Clark County's regional PTA president, said parental concerns run the gamut from questions about charter schools to "social promotions" -- passing students on from grade to grade even if they are not ready.

"I've talked to a lot of parents who say that some kids don't try because they know that they don't have to do anything," Denis said.

Several parents sounded off about student standards at a recent Silver State Girls League soccer practice held at Johnson Middle School in northwest Las Vegas.

Parent Donna Weise, part of a group of mothers sitting in a circle watching practice, railed against the district's Gifted and Talented Education, or GATE, program. The program pulls high-achieving students out of regular classes for special attention.

"If you challenge all of those kids, they'll all do better," Weise said. "All kids should be held to the GATE standards."

Soccer mom Carol Rancati, whose daughter is in a kindergarten class of 28 children, said she worried about the one or two wild or even violent children who seem to pop up in every classroom.

"They should have a special place for those kids," Rancati said. "They need attention, but there are 30 other kids in the classroom who are not getting an education."

As kids worked on their corner kicks on the field at Johnson, a flock of Johnson parents settled inside the school's cafeteria to begin Open House night.

Parents sounded familiar concerns about the quality of learning that their kids receive in the classroom.

Pamela Cantrell said she worried that her sixth-grade son, Brian, wasn't getting the same quality of education as students at the district's magnet schools. The competitive magnet programs can be difficult to get into, several parents said.

"I'd like to make sure that the other schools in the district get the best equipment and the best teachers," Cantrell said.

Las Vegas firefighter Mike Mathis said he was concerned that his sixth-grade son, Nicholas, had been issued only math and science textbooks. He also wondered whether sixth grade was too early for students to be in a middle school.

"I think sixth grade is still a bit young for him to be in a bigger school," Mathis said.

A few parents brought their education concerns directly to the politicians at a recent Saturday event dubbed "Pizza, Pop and Politics." Parents trickled into Western High School to talk one-on-one with 38 candidates who had set up booths in the school cafeteria.

Parent Bridget Wong strolled the cafeteria, reiterating Mathis' concern about textbooks. She said she soon may home-school one of her children because his elementary school doesn't use mathematics textbooks, opting instead to pass out reams of worksheets.

Still, like many parents, she had nothing but praise for the school's staff.

"We have great teachers there," Wong said. "It's a good neighborhood. We have over 90 percent parent participation. But they wonder how we can score with averages in the 60th percentile in math. Gee -- I wonder why."

Shawn and Judy Lee also strolled among the candidate booths, toting their four children, including their oldest, Kelsey, a kindergartner. Like many parents, Shawn Lee wonders about school safety.

"When you send your kid off to school, you expect them to come back," Lee said. "When I was a kid, you beat someone up and the next day they were your best friend. Now you beat someone up and they come back with a gun."

Many parents sounded off on school topics that related to funding issues. There's just never enough money for equipment, programs and textbooks, some said.

"Music kids should get more funding," said Phyllis Codos, a booster parent at Durango High School and mother of four. "Marching bands are ignored. My son was a drum major for two years and we struggled for money."

Codos was working the refreshment stand at a Friday night football game against Cimarron Memorial. She said special education in the district was also among her top concerns.

One of her sons was on the field for the Durango Trailblazers, who suffered a 25-0 defeat.

It was also parents' night at the game. Padded and sweaty Durango football players strolled across the field arm-in-arm with their folks while the stadium announcer called out their names.

It was a proud moment for Frank and Barbara Jimenez and their son, Adam, an offensive lineman. Barbara wore her son's number -- 71 -- on a white and purple jersey.

Both mom and dad said the quality of their son's education at Durango was a drastic improvement over the schooling he got in Oxnard, Calif., before they moved.

"The system here is much better," Frank Jimenez said. "From what I can see, he brings his homework home, he's got everything he could ever ask for in the school. I have no complaints."

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