LAS VEGAS, Nev. (FOX5) – Teenagers had the chance to ask tough questions to Clark County School District board candidates and State Board of Education leaders, as local non-profit, Opportunity 180 hosted its annual Flip The Script session.
This is all on the heels of a new report showing our state has a lot of work to do to get to the top of the class, leading to questions like this: “What is one thing that you can do to improve the state’s education rank?” asked one student.
Nevada State Board of Education member, Dr.René Cantú says, “The reasons that we were so low had to do not just with educational achievement, it also had to do with economic opportunity and access to health care.”
He adds providing access to mental health care is also important, so students walk through the doors ready to learn.
Because right now, parents are unhappy with the state of our schools, with only 31% saying they’re satisfied with their child’s school, the lowest score in the country, and well below the national average of 45%.
That’s according to new data from Edge Research and education non-profit, 50CAN.
Results from that recent study showed only 50% of Nevada families would send their students to the school they’re currently at if they could do it over again. That, too was the lowest score in the country.
But parents and students aren’t just unhappy in the classroom.
That’s why high schoolers asked questions like, do you believe students are given enough opportunities for school programs that help them find their dream careers?
That led CCSD School Board Trustee Candidate, Kamilah Bywaters to answer with this, “I have heard from some of my students in the community that they don’t feel that the opportunities are fair and equitable when it comes to extracurricular activities, because some of them you have to pay for.”
Bywaters says school leaders should do their part, whether that includes fundraising or being smarter with the budget.
The budget was top-of-mind for these students given the news that CCSD estimates the district is facing a $20 million budget deficit.
The students wanted to know what can be done to give teachers raises without cutting school budgets and programs.
“I think that in order to make sure that we are taking care of our teachers and doing it in a way where it doesn’t take away from students, we need a really good look at the budget,” said CCSD Board Candidate, Emily Stevens. “We need to start asking hard questions, and we need to allocate funds appropriately.”
When discussing the budget, Dr. Cantú added he knows the governor and the legislature made a $2.6 billion investment in education, but it’s not enough. “If we’re being cheap about investing in our own kids,” Dr. Cantú says, “I think we really have to question our own motivations as adults about what our priorities are.”
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