Commentary - September 2005

Business Success Requires Accountability & Competition –

What about Public Education?

by Lyle Brennan

The Nevada Department of Education recently reported that more than half the schools in the state (53 percent) failed to meet the "adequate yearly progress" standards of the federal No Child Left Behind Act for the 2004-2005 school year. Out of the 608 schools evaluated, only five were named "exemplary" and only 52 received a "high achieving" ranking. More than 27 percent were placed on a "Watch List" for failing to meet one or more components of the standards and another 30 percent were labeled "in need of improvement."

Accountability: The Missing Element

The only school in Clark County to receive the "exemplary" designation was a charter school – the middle school operated by Agassi College Preparatory Academy. The Academy opened four years ago to serve mainly inner-city students. It has some advantages not enjoyed by other middle schools: small size (only 150 students, versus 1,000 or more in some middle schools); small class sizes; an eight-hour day versus a six-hour day; and more money per pupil, thanks to grants and donations.

But how’s this for an advantage? Agassi teachers work on one-year contracts, and last year the board renewed the contracts of only six of its 18 teachers. In other words, teachers are judged on the results they produce. What a concept! In the union-controlled Clark County School District, teachers are considered "permanent employees" and are guaranteed a position for life, unless they really screw up. Even if they are fired for cause, they can appeal through the teachers’ union.

At Agassi, students sign contracts promising good behavior and parents must promise to involve themselves in their children’s education. If students misbehave or parents refuse to take needed action, the students can be expelled. In other words, Agassi demands accountability – from teachers, from students and from parents.

The Value of Competition

Mark Harrison, an economic consultant from Australia, wrote in a recent syndicated column: "The key to improving the education system is to move away from a politicized, government-operated system to a decentralized, competitive market. Schools that compete and are directly accountable to parents simply work better than the bureaucratic alternative." He points out that the current system in the U.S. does not reward efficiency or productivity and may actually reward inefficiency. "Poor performance often leads to additional resources," he says, as government throws money at a struggling school to try to fix its problems.

His solution, and one shared by many U.S. citizens, is to let the free market operate through the use of school vouchers, giving parents the option of where to place their children for school. This will encourage all schools, both public and private, to become better and therefore improve education and test scores across the board.

The Search for a Superstar

This summer, University Chancellor Jim Rogers sent $55,000 in checks from wealthy donors to the Clark County Public Education Foundation as a down payment on a fund to pay for a national search for a new CCSD superintendent. Rogers has said he also wants to raise funds to help subsidize the next superintendent’s salary, upping it to between $400,000 and $600,000 a year.

If we hire an entrepreneurial "superstar" administrator who will be willing to fire people, decentralize the bloated district and cut waste, he or she could be worth 10 times that salary.

Although I compliment Jim Rogers for thinking out of the box, I fear the problem is not the leader of the system – it’s the system itself. Without accountability or competition, there’s no incentive for public schools to improve, and we can’t expect the next report card for Nevada’s educational system to show many A’s and B’s.

Folks, it is up to us to change the system. We can continue to do nothing and allow the public school system and the resulting effects on our culture and society to slip into the abyss or we can make our voices heard. Contact your local school board members and your state legislators and tell them you expect accountability and competition in the public school system; and that you are going to personally hold them responsible for their actions… then do it!

Clark County Public School Board Contact Info: http://ccsd.net/directory/trustees/board/index.phtml

Washoe County Public School Board Contact Info: http://www.washoe.k12.nv.us/district/board/meet/

Nevada State Legislators Contact info: http://leg.state.nv.us/

COMMENTS? email: lyle@nbj.com

Lyle Brennan Publisher
COMMENTS? email: lyle@nbj.com