Issue Position: K-16 Education

Issue Position

Nevada Rankings: Nevada ranks among the nation's worse when it comes to educating our children and this has to change. We need to provide a world-class educational system that allows each student to learn, grow, and excel. I believe this will require improving upon those things we do well and making necessary improvements in the essential areas that need to be strengthened.

More Control to Local School Districts: Necessary improvements should include providing more flexibility to local school districts in the several important areas such as of the allocation of resources, textbook and technology replacement policies and appropriate class sizes.

Evaluation of Teachers: Making necessary improvements also means ensuring that teachers have appropriate and adequate tools and skills to create a world-class system of pubic education. Teachers must have training opportunities to enhance their skills and equip them to perform at high level. The evaluation of teachers should occur annually and should take into consideration many factors including but not limited to student achievement. Research indicates that student achievement is tied to several indicators beyond the influence of the teacher in addition to what occurs in the classroom. An evaluation that is fair, consistent and meaningful should be implemented. The objective of evaluation should be to identify strengths and identify areas for improvement in order to make our schools better.

Higher Education: Nevada ranks 49th in the percentage of high school graduates that enter college the semester following high school graduation. The Millennium Scholarship assists greatly with this but it has not significantly closed the gap. We need to ensure that a obtaining a college education is a viable option for all graduates of Nevada high schools. And that such an education appropriately prepares students to be valuable, contributing citizens of the community. Without a skilled workforce from which to choose, businesses will continue to be reluctant to relocated or build here. You can not be serious about business or diversifying the economy without being serious about education.

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