LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — The Clark County School District superintendent, Jesus F. Jara, responded to the Community Schools' initiative to "secede" from the district.
Jara says "adult-centered distractions" continue to harm the valley's children.
"While we recognize the need for improved educational outcomes across Nevada, these adult-centered distractions continue to harm our children. Should communities choose to secede from the Clark County School District, they will increase taxpayer costs by expanding government bureaucracies. Dismantling the economies of scale achieved by CCSD will raise the costs of educating all children and further exacerbate the inequities impacting our neediest children and violate their rights."
Jara says that if any change should happen, it's that Nevada should "provide more funding and academic rigor to improvde educational outcomes."
He also states, "Pointing fingers at CCSD and calling for its breakup is an easy populist talking point."
Jara ends his statement to the initiative submission by saying, "Educating our students adequately requires an honest, reasoned, equitable, accountable, and sustainable strategy supported with optimal funding for the new pupil-centered funding formula to produce outcomes other than Nevada’s current 49th in the nation funding levels. This initiative achieves none of these.”
The Clark County Education Association also provided a statement opposing the proposed breakup of CCSD. They say they will "await a determiation from the Secretary of State on whether there are enough valid signatures to qualify the initiative peitioonm to break up the Clark County School District."
The rest of their statement follows here:
"However, CCEA believes that breaking up the CCSD will not resolve the systemic problems which result from having the lowest funding levels in the nation, nor the high vacancy rate of educators that plagues our district and the country. Furthermore, CCEA believes that this effort will only exacerbate the gross inequity that exists between urban core schools and the predominantly white suburban ring of the school district. For those reasons, CCEA strongly opposes efforts to break up the school district. Legislative efforts in 2023 should focus on the recommendations from the Commission on School Funding which is proposing that the State invest more funding over the next several years to bring our funding levels from last in the nation to the national average.”
