In this episode, we will update you on how the Education Savings Accounts are coming along1)could be better, and then provide a one stop directory for everything you need before the kidlets go back to school. If you would like to read more about the updated Nevada Bullying law, we have you covered.
Back to School and the New Education Savings Accounts
21 August, the state treasurer held a meeting to discuss the radical new education law passed by the legislature in the 2015 session. Check out the link to get our full analysis of the law. In particular, the questions proposed at the end of the piece have still not been answered. What happens to the rest of the students attending struggling schools in Nevada when more kids (and the subsequent funding) are taken out? Will the struggling schools have to make due with even less resources? Why not take the money/effort/resources being used to help kids leave the public schools and hire more teachers? If you have not tried to teach a class of more than 40 kids2)I sure have, it is quite difficult, even with public speaking experience. Without lowering classroom size, almost nothing else will matter3)in my humble opinion.
I digress. Let us see how the ESA meeting went. Neal Morton did a real nice job covering the event for "the newspaper"4)as Mr. Ralston puts it, as did the Nevada Succeeds twitter account. I will post tweets from the meeting of 21 August so you can get a feel for how it went:
As the school yr begins more than 900 @ClarkCountySch teaching positions are still empty. http://t.co/HggBj8Y9L8 #teachershortage #education
— Mitch Fox (@Mitch_Fox) August 21, 2015
Many parents today have cried while telling @NVTreasury that 100-day rule "forced" them to place their kids in public school #nved
— Neal Morton (@nealtmorton) August 21, 2015
.@Dan4Nevada says that an #ESA Special Session is under consideration and urges people to contact @GovSandoval & the members of the #nvleg
— Nevada Succeeds (@NevadaSucceeds) August 21, 2015
A parent asks for 100 calendar days rather than 100 school days. That’s not how state budgeting & state law works #nved #nvleg #ESA
— Nevada Succeeds (@NevadaSucceeds) August 21, 2015
https://twitter.com/StudentsFirstNV/status/634772569963560960
#SB302 does not go into effect until January 1, 2016 so payments cannot be made in 2015 #nved #nvleg #ESA
— Nevada Succeeds (@NevadaSucceeds) August 21, 2015
Breaking: Attempting to drastically reform the school system in 3 months may not be possible5)my Drudge siren is broken, or it would be adjacent to this headline. Allow me to clarify, it is possible to do, but probably not possible to do well.
I keep seeing the proponents of the bill cite how many people signed up for it so far, 2200 from the last citation. How many students does the Clark County School District have6)#RonDarlingesqRhetoricalQuestion? Try more than 318,000. For those scoring at home, .69% of the students have signed up.
Let us say that the program is a big hit, and doubles the participation so far. Was all this time/effort/money to implement this program worth it? Before you answer, consider also that money spent on public schools will be taken away to pay tuition7)and other costs for these students. Consider also that the money spent on public education cannot be proportionally deducted from the students that remain. For example, if there is not a sufficient amount to pay for a teacher, computer, text book, we cannot buy 3/4s of a teacher, 1/2 a text book, etc. We have to be able to pay for the entire expenditure, or it will not be paid for.
Again, we are talking about harming 99% of the school district's children so that 1% will be better off. Fair? Best use of the legislature/governor's time?
The school district has put the application for the ESAs online, which you may see here. Remember, the bill does not go into effect until 2016, so you will not be getting any money until then.
More good, back to school information
With our economy still in recovery, we all know how tough it can be to get the work schedule to line up with when the kids get out of school. Safekey is a free program that will supervise your kids until you get off of work.
The Clark County School District Superintendent penned an article for the Las Vegas Sun that he discusses many of the new, exciting programs coming to the school district this year. An interesting/pretty great concept he included:
Ready by third grade
Third grade is a critical point in our students’ education. Our students must be proficient in reading and writing by the end of third grade. Beginning in fourth grade a child makes the transition from learning to read to reading to learn. Dedicated funds from the Legislature will allow us to implement additional programs that focus on literacy and ensure our students don’t fall behind.
If you need information on school vaccinations, you can get it here. Note that usually vaccinations are done Monday to Friday, but an exception has been made for Saturday, 22 August.
On Saturday, Aug. 22, a special back-to-school immunization clinic is scheduled at the health district’s main facility, 330 S. Valley View from 9 a.m. – 1 p.m.
PBS produced a special with even more back to school information that you can watch here.
Clark County School District has a website with almost any other additional information you may need for all the back to school drama.
Back to school is not just for the kids!
Look at this neat program offered by Clark County! We love civics, and so will you!
Aug. 31 is the deadline to apply for #NeighborhoodCollege2015. Learn how govt. works & meet great people #CCNC15 pic.twitter.com/t02Fg5xK2N
— Clark County Nevada (@ClarkCountyNV) August 13, 2015
The kids will have a tough time complaining about homework if you are doing it as well.
A little humor before you go...
"I just hope we can find something adequately depressing before students start arriving." http://t.co/pJBy6dLLzs pic.twitter.com/Fyl5ckrk55
— The Onion (@TheOnion) August 21, 2015
No one covers back to school quite like The Onion.
Have a great school year everyone!