Education

Clark County is now 5th largest school district in America. It's peer districts are blighted inner cities, drawn together by politicians at a loss for what to do.

The Clark County School Distict has grown too large. It is an accident, really... no one ever imagined Clark County would grow to 1.8-million residents back when one-county-per-school-district was written into state law 50 years ago. CCSD now has over 240 administrators who are not assigned to a school site. What do they do?

Beers Supports Breaking Up Into Smaller Districts

Bob Beers has supported breaking up the Clark County School District for several years, and will continue to as Governor. Care must be taken that it be done smartly and equitably, issues expected to drive a Legislative Interim Committee's study currently underway. The committee is expected to produce a blueprint for how to deconsolidate.

Technology Will Allow Merit Pay

New technology that Beers has encouraged in the state legislature will soon provide Nevada with objective data on the performance of teachers, principals, neighborhoods and many demographic divisions. The historical arguments that have foiled Republican plans for merit pay - the subjectivity of principals and the inability to compare standardized test scores between schools - will go away.

Education Data Deceiving

Recently, the state of Nevada added an online Nevada Report Card, which allows comparisons between counties and schools. The financial data is incomple, as "total" funding does not include "capital and debt service" funding.

Most states only spend "capital and debt service" funding on construction and paying back construction bonds. Some Nevada districts spend some "capital and debt service" funding on repairs, maintenance, and replacement books and equipment. Nevada's "capital and debt service funding per student is about twice the national average, far higher than our 4% enrollment growth requires.