Nevada's Promise Lays Out Vision for Education Reform

LAS VEGAS, July 22 /PRNewswire/ -- Today copies of Nevada's Promise: Excellence, Rigor, and Equity—the state's application for the federal Race to the Top education grant program—were sent to more than 600 representatives from the public, private and nonprofit sectors of Nevada.

"The initial goal was to create a plan—within a deadline—to submit for $175 million in federal funds," said Daniel Klaich, chancellor of the Nevada System for Higher Education and co-chair of the governor's Education Reform Blue Ribbon Task Force. "But the resulting document has become much more significant. A strong and vested group of Nevadans has developed a blueprint for educational success in this state and the work will continue to move forward regardless of the federal response. Reform is a process, not an event."

The governor's Education Reform Blue Ribbon Task Force—consisting of a group of 28 educators, advocates, elected officials and private sector professionals—was established to ensure a successful state application for the Race to the Top competition, but the group will continue its work to implement the reform agenda contained in Nevada's Promise and prepare recommendations to the new governor and legislature by November. The task force is committed to implementation of the reform agenda with or without the federal grant.

"The hard reality is that Nevada is last in education across the country," said Dr. Heath Morrison, superintendent of Washoe County School District and member of the task force. "Whether the application garners us federal funds or not, we must find a way to move ahead. We have 436,000 students who are depending on us to deliver Nevada's Promise—that every school will be led by effective principals, every classroom will be led by effective teachers and every student will graduate."

All 17 of the state's school districts have endorsed Nevada's Promise as well as the state teacher association, including 15 of its local, district-wide associations.

"The collaboration on this project is unprecedented in this state," said Lynn Warne, president of the Nevada State Education Association and member of the task force. "This is a shared vision for our future."

Nevada's Promise documents the steps that have been taken to make necessary changes in Nevada, ranging from an excellent beginning of data systems to serve teachers, parents, children and policy makers to the recent action of the state legislature to provide the basis for linking teacher evaluations to the growth in student learning.

A key element is the agreement that Nevada will adopt, along with almost all other states, a common set of academic content standards and an assessment system to measure success in learning those standards. This includes adopting college and career-readiness standards as well as implementing early reading interventions in selected schools.

Nevada's Promise also outlines the efficient use of data systems, the recruitment and development of great teachers and leaders, a detailed plan to turn-around the lowest achieving schools and a special focus on educating children in the STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) disciplines.

"This is not merely an educational exercise," said Ray Bacon, executive director of the Nevada Manufacturers Association and member of the task force. "This is a plan for our state's economic health and, ultimately, our quality of life. It is all about sustainable economic development opportunities. It is very clear that the state is in a crisis situation as jobs have disappeared and the economy is simply unable to generate the revenue needed to support expected public services. The application makes a clear and decisive link between the state of education in Nevada and the economic distress that it faces, and we will only solve the problem through major reforms in education."

Finalists for the next round of federal Race to the Top funds are expected to be announced later this month.

"This has been one of the most extraordinary things I have ever taken part in," said Elaine Wynn, director of Wynn Resorts and co-chair of the task force. "It has been nothing short of miraculous, and I am very proud of Nevada's Promise. It has been a tremendous effort on the part of Nevadans to reform education in the state—something that has been a long time coming. The Race to the Top program may have initiated the action, but now that we are in agreement of where we want to go we can move forward with confidence."  

Nevada's Promise, a full list of the Education Reform Blue Ribbon Task Force members and other information related to the state of education in Nevada, Race to the Top and the task force can be found at http://www.nevadaracetothetop.org.  

SOURCE Education Reform Blue Ribbon Task Force