Kudos to Gibbons for taking an immediate stand

Well done, Governor Gibbons! Despite the lobbying of the Association of Nevada School Superintendents, the election season bleating of your opponent Dina Titus and the post election posturing of the Assembly Democrat leadership, you didn't rise to the bait and call for universal all day kindergarten in your State of the State speech this week.

Prior to the speech Northern Nevada's largest daily newspaper published a "balanced" presentation of the issues reporting that supposedly independent studies came to different conclusions about whether universal all day kindergarten was a wise expenditure of taxpayer dollars. Those showing that benefits of full day kindergarten, if any, were lost by the third grade included studies by the Rand Corporation, the Goldwater Foundation, the National Center for Educational Statistics and the Hoover Press.

Studies which supported all day kindergarten were identified as those of the Washoe County School District elementary principals, the Montgomery County (MD) School District and WestEd, a non-profit whose board is almost all school principals and superintendents. Interestingly the Goldwater Foundation study also found "a tendency of educators to use flawed studies and methods to convince themselves and others of 'facts' when seeking a preordained result." As State Sen. Dina Titus remarked: "You have to look at who is doing the study." Yep!

Well, Gov. Gibbons didn't falter under pressure from Democrats and public employee unions, particularly teacher unions, who lobbied hard for hiring more kindergarten teachers, and hence boosting their political clout. The governor did include in his budget funds for the present program of all day kindergarten in at risk schools where kids struggle with a language barrier or the effects of poverty.

The governor also announced $60 million for an innovative experimental program where some schools will be able to virtually run themselves. It is modeled after a program first tried in Edmonton, Canada in the 1970s with such success that it has been duplicated in urban centers such as Los Angeles and New York. I am indebted to Carson City School trustee Joe Enge for a more thorough explanation of the program than was reported in the media. Mr. Enge explains that the Edmonton system was studied by UCLA professor William Ouchi (223 schools in 6 cities, the results were published in Making Schools Work).

Dr. Ouchi reported that once the budget was decentralized at the school level every principal became an entrepreneur and delegated duty and authority to teachers who in turn held students responsible for individual achievement. Another aspect is that funding follows the student so that at risk and special education students bring additional money to offset higher costs to educate them. School district headquarters are retitled "central services" and entrepreneurial principals have a choice of whether they contract there or go outside for goods and services.

Nevadans, being familiar with odds, might agree that the Edmonton experiment is a lot better bet than a crapshoot called universal all day kindergarten that independent experts believe wasteful. Good moves, Governor Gibbons. Of course both the Assembly and the Senate will have to agree but it's a great start.

The governor should also take a look at the Little Rock, Ark. schools where teachers earn bonuses based on improvements in their students' test scores. The local teacher union has recruited candidates for school board pledged to unravel the system but the teachers love it. With periodic bonuses running up to $8,600 why wouldn't they?

Ain't free enterprise great?



Jim Clark is President of Republican Advocates, a vice chair of the Washoe County GOP and a member of the Nevada GOP Central Committee.