Wednesday, Nov. 6, 2019 | 2 a.m.
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The Nov. 3 editorial, “CCSD does admirable work with paltry funding but must improve,” notes that Clark County students’ scores are comparable to other large school districts that spend more money.
It seems to me that the information you share about the low percentages of children at grade level in math and reading leads to two different conclusions than the one you have drawn. First, large-district public schools are failing. Second, more money may not be the answer, since other school districts are spending more and doing worse.
It would be interesting to see some in-depth analysis of why large school districts in general, and CCSD in particular, have such poor outcomes. Are the teaching methods effective? Could time spent on testing be shortened? Does it make sense to put children who don’t speak English in classes taught in English? How are resources allocated between classroom, support and administration? Should administrators be unionized? What’s the impact of poor classroom discipline on learning? What are successful districts doing?
People would be more willing to increase school funding if they felt it was being used wisely.
