There is nothing more important than our nation’s children. They are the hope of the future and when one thinks about investing for the future the first thing that should come to mind is investing in the next generation.  

Education is a topic that most politicians run on. Unfortunately, our children have not benefitted from decades of promises. My opponent says:

It is time we make an investment in our children's education - we need to invest time and ingenuity to ensure our children get the education they deserve.”  And, “As your State Senator, I have . . . spent the past three years fighting to improve our schools so our children have a productive and safe environment in which to learn. As long as there are children in need, I will be fighting for them.

Taxpayers have invested year after year in our children’s education, but little has improved. In fact, the plight of Nevada education has continued to worsen as graduation rates fall to record lows. My opponent has spent three years fighting for children, but perhaps the children would fare better if and when she stops fighting.

Public education has been in the hands of liberal Democrats for decades. Teachers unions take well-meaning teachers’ money and spend it on liberal causes and candidates. They care more about social engineering than teaching children how to think. We need thinkers to build the future. We don’t need failed policies repeated for another generation.  

Because there are so many competing opinions on the “state of the state” in regard to education, I asked a citizen researcher to determine Nevada’s high school graduation rate and reconcile the various opinions of where our state falls in relation to other states. The results were staggering. 

Among the findings was that Nevada falls last in graduation in two out of three key surveys (47.3% & 55.6%) and third from the bottom in the third survey (67.5%).

My opponent claims:

We do not properly invest in students' education. In 2008, Nevada invested $7,133 per student, almost $3,000 less than the national average of $9,963.

A 2009 U.S. Census report identified Nevada as spending $7,993 (not $7,133) per pupil. Furthermore, the national average per the census report is $9,666. Therefore, Nevada spent $1,673 per pupil below the national average. 

Our study also showed that spending more per pupil does not guarantee higher graduation rates. There are 9 states that spend less per pupil than Nevada, but all have higher graduation rates than Nevada.

My opponent says:

Our children are not getting the attention they deserve. In Nevada we have 19.3 students per teacher, while the national average is 15.4 students per teacher.

Our study shows Nevada’s average classroom size as 18.3 and the national average at 15.5. There are 5 states with higher classroom sizes and all have higher graduation rates than Nevada.

Lower classroom sizes do tend to improve graduation rates, but 21 states spend below the national average yet somehow manage to maintain lower than the average (15.5) classroom sizes. Clearly, there are areas, even in this challenging economic time, in which Nevada can better utilize its education budget.

My opponent calls for Nevadans “to invest time and ingenuity,” but then calls for investing more money. The fact is that there is no more money to spend on education. We have to solve our problems by “investing time and ingenuity” that come without a price tag. 

Every state is facing cuts in their education budget. Nevada needs leaders that can do more with less. We need parents, teachers and principals to have more input to how existing funds are spent. A greater piece of the education funding pie needs to be spent in the classroom and not on bureaucracy. We need fewer high-dollar consultants and more internships and volunteer workers.  

We need to adopt what has proven to work and eliminate what has proven to fail. We need to aggressively push for more charter, magnet and empowerment schools. We also need education tax credits so that parents and children will have a true alternative. States that use school choice and education tax credits have seen standards raised, and the students have jumped to meet and exceed the goals set before them. My hope is to see every Nevada student have the opportunity to excel in education. Only then will our education investment show a positive dividend.