LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — It's no secret that the Nevada education system has been a work in progress for a long time.
Historically, when compared to the other 49 states, Nevada is usually in the bottom 10.
Last month, USA Today's Homefront team analyzed data from the National Education Association and stated Nevada was the worst state in the United States when it comes to Pre-K through 12th grade education.
They looked at:
- Graduation Rates
- Students enrolled per teacher
- Average daily attendance
- Average teacher's salary
- Operating public school districts
- Public school current expenditures per student
According to the report, Nevada was number one when it comes to the number of students per teacher averaging about 25 students. Nevada also had the highest increase in the number of students per teacher between the 2021-2022 and 2022-2023 school years at 10.89%. The report also states that Nevada only has 20 operating school districts compared to the national average of 318 districts per state.
Similar reports by U.S. News & World Report and WalletHub came to similar conclusions with Nevada ranking 45th and 42nd respectively.
You might be wondering what the secret sauce is when it comes to improving schools across the country. That's exactly what the National Governors Association is trying to find out.
The NGA chair is Colorado Gov. Jared Polis and his big push this year is the Let's Get Ready initiative. The goal is to speak with educators, parents, students, researchers, community and business leaders to find ways to prepare students for life after school.
Polis is making stops across the U.S. to get feedback and learn more about what is and isn't working. On Wednesday, that included a stop at the Southeast Career and Technical Academy.
Students showed Polis around the campus as well as other policymakers and leaders who are in town for an NGA conference this week. The tour included stops in the cosmetology, automated manufacturing, culinary, and construction programs.
We asked Polis what he thought about Nevada being ranked so low compared to his state, Colorado, and what he thought of campuses like SECTA.
"It's a matter of what we're measuring. Right? We want to move the measurement towards career readiness. I think, frankly, Nevada does a little better if that was the way we looked at it. How do we have a metric for saying look, test scores are important but if you have a skill that lets you have a career or a good living, let's count that too," Polis said. "The students are getting skills that if they choose to go into these areas, there are jobs for them today and many of them are good-paying jobs, whether it's construction, culinary. There's a need right away that aligns with the skills they learned in high school."
Those are sentiments echoed by Jhone Ebert, the Superintendent of Public Instruction for the Nevada Department of Education.
"In every high school across the entire state that participates in career and technical education, the graduation rate is almost 97%," Ebert said. "If we set a goal in the next five years to set a goal to make sure we expand choice, these choice programs, we will see more students graduate and that's what we want across our entire state, the economy, and everything else in Nevada."
When Nevada Gov. Joe Lombardo was elected in November 2022, he said he would be the next "education governor".
Some of the things he said were on his to-do list include giving teachers raises, implementing more school choice initiatives, and improving accessibility to workforce development programs for students.
We asked Ebert if those options were still on the table as Nevada lawmakers prepare for the upcoming legislative session.
"Working with the governor, we know that Pre-K is huge. We want to make sure that all of those students that are eligible and parents who want to make sure their child is involved at an early age, that they have access. Starting with our earliest learners is a big piece," Ebert said. "Expanding career and technical education as well. We want to make sure that transpires. We know that the investment that was made during the last legislative session, creating efficiencies with those dollars and making sure that they're used appropriate towards graduation during the next legislative session is critical as well."
WATCH: Gov. Lombardo talks about education goals during 2023 State of the State address
And when it comes to funding those types of programs, anchor Justin Hinton questioned the current investigation into the Clark County School District's finances.
"We put the monitor in place. We're excited that that is moving forward. She is very well-qualified to look across a large organization, which the Clark County School District is," Ebert said. "I look forward to receiving those reports, working collaboratively with the school district to get it on a positive path."
The CCSD School Board is scheduled to finalize the agreement for the compliance monitor, including how much she'll get paid at Thursday's school board meeting.
It's required by the state superintendent after the district's budget issues led to a non-compliant status.
The amount they pay the monitor cannot exceed $60,000.
