INCLINE VILLAGE, Nev. — The plan to implement an International Baccalaureate program in Incline Village is an ambitious and costly one. Our public schools are asking this community to step up and fund the global curriculum, asking you to help foot a $400,000 investment over the next 10 years, an investment program supporters say is vital for it to succeed.

While we are happy to support the program and its goal of increasing attendance at Incline's public schools, we must demand reciprocation from our schools in terms of academic performance, especially in light of recent struggles to instruct English language (EL) learners at Incline's Elementary and Middle schools.

Both schools failed to meet federal education standards last year largely because of low test scores among their English learner students. That lack of success is problematic because the number of these mostly Hispanic English learners accounts for a growing proportion of children who make up the school population, a statement quantified by a Washoe County School District study released earlier this year that states these children account for about half of the elementary school student body.

It's no secret that school districts around the Lake Tahoe basin and throughout Nevada and California struggle to educate the EL population — case in point, our neighbors in the Tahoe Truckee Unified School District have implemented a specific EL plan this school year to attempt to bridge a gap between ELs and native speakers.

But if we in Incline are to become an education destination for Basin residents and prospective homebuyers who want their children in our schools, Incline must raise the bar for achievement for all students and not only its native speaker population. Coming to the community asking for a handout to support a new education model — while at the same time failing to meet educational standards — is troubling.

If our schools expect support from us, we must demand as much of them, starting with the equitable education of all of our students.