“Facts are stubborn things; and whatever may be our wishes, our inclinations, or the dictates of our passion, they cannot alter the state of facts and evidence.” (John Adams – 2nd President of the United States)
What to Do About Our WCSD Schools? Facts matter.*
Facts matter, especially when it comes to educating our children.
In the United States, the fact is that we have a public education system that ranks behind 25 other nations.
And if you have a child in Washoe County Schools (or any public school in Nevada), the fact is that your child attends schools that not only rank behind 25 other countries, but ALSO rank behind 48 of the other 49 states.
This column presents the stark facts about how bad our Washoe County School District (WCSD) actually is. In succeeding columns, we’ll look at some of the causes of these problems and what you can do to help solve them, including: Student Behavior, Special Education, Untapped Ways to Slash Expenditures, the Credit Recovery Program, the School Board, WCSD leadership, Increased Usage of Racially Biased Curriculum, and others.
*The statistics cited in this column come from news articles in the Reno Gazette Journal and from Editorial Projects in Education, and their annual Quality Counts Survey, the national periodicals of record for public education.
Why Should You Care About the State of Our Public Schools?
Because WCSD releases over 4,000 graduates into our county every year, of which the statistics say that over 85% have academic skills so low that they will struggle to live independent, contributing lives, and be adequately informed voters.
National Perspective • Nevada ranks 49th lowest in the nation for a category called: “Students Having a Chance For a Successful Future,” a position they’ve held for over a decade.
• Solely on academic achievement, Nevada schools currently rank between 48th and 43rd lowest in the nation (and have ranked between 49th and 50th for many years
Is the Problem Really Not Enough Funding?
For years, WCSD’s Boards and Superintendents have blamed Reno’s (and Nevada’s) low-achieving schools almost entirely on a lack of per-pupil funding, compared to other states. Nevada’s current spending-per-pupil is $9,400 per pupil per year. The following is a list of 10 states whose overall School Achievement ranking is HIGHER than Nevada’s, while their per-pupil funding rate is LOWER than – EQUAL to – or within $200-$300 per year of Nevada’s
WCSD’s Priority for Spending Its Funding
• Our Students are ranked ahead of practically ZERO other states in what they are learning.
• Our Teachers rank ahead of 21 other states in what they are paid.
Our Superintendent ranks ahead of 29 other states in what she is paid.
Not Prepared for College
The nationally-administered ACT Test (American College Testing) exam is the standard for determining if a high school graduate is ready for college. Close to 90% of Nevada students (inclucing WCSD) earn ACT scores that would NOT qualify them to be able to pass college-level classes. That means that of the approximately 4,000 college diplomas that WCSD hands out to graduating seniors each year, 3600 of those diplomas are essentially worthless.
Something’s Wrong With Our Graduation Rates
Starting in 2015, while the can’t-be-manipulated ACT scores for WCSD students were going steadily DOWN – the can-be-and-ARE-manipulated graduation rates for WCSD students were going steadily UP!?
There are several reasons for this that will be explained in later columns.
Even On Nevada’s Own Made-up Ratings, Our Schools Are STILL Failing
The Nevada Department of Education has established its own school ranking system to try and “spin” the statistics and prove that our schools are not really doing that badly.
But even by THAT rating system, 39 WCSD schools, or about 37% of our total schools STILL recently rated either 1-2 “Stars” (i.e., the students met either none or almost-none of the minimal state learning goals). Additionally, 5 other WCSD schools were not rated at ALL, including two high schools and two middle schools.
If what I’ve shared is not bad enough, the statistics I’ve quoted were all recorded BEFORE the Covid-related fears turned our WCSD schools into robotic zoom-teaching. NO one disagrees that no matter HOW little our students were previously learning, that the extended zoom-teaching has worsened that situation exponentially.
Is It Too Late to Save Our WCSD Public Schools?
NO! Not if the community will do the following: • Find out the factsof what’s really going onin our schools, by reading this column and succeeding ones thoroughly
• Speak out and get involved, and succeeding columns will tell you how to do that.
I have good news to share. A lawsuit has been brought against the Nevada Governor, Nevada Attorney General, Nevada Senate Majority Leader and the head of the Legislative Council Bureau. This action is in response to the legislature closing the doors to the public. It is unfortunate that we the people have to resort to legal action in order to get our elected representatives to listen to us. I see more and more examples of people standing up for our basic liberties. The question is, what happens when the courts refuse to listen as in what recently happened in the Supreme Court denying to hear the Pennsylvania case regarding voter fraud?
While the legislature is in session I’m looking at a great deal of proposed legislation that is frightening. For instance, SB73 will introduce new taxes for the City of Reno. AB121 will allow voting over the internet further corrupting our election process. Additionally Janine Hansen with Nevada Families for Freedom has researched AB129 which reverses legislation she fought for and was passed regarding campaign finance reporting. Click here to read the article from Nevada Families for Freedom.
I encourage everyone reading this to get involved in the process. Remember every law that is passed, be it local, state or federal, has an impact on your liberty. Emails to legislators should be fairly unique as software has been purchased for screening out redundant emails to the legislators. Also, post your opinion on the legislative website (click here). These opinions are tallied and recorded. It only takes 5 minutes of your day to have an impact on what comes out of our legislature.
This newsletter includes an opinion column penned by Paul D. White. These articles will soon be available under a separate tab at NevadaPatriot.net. As a reminder, the Washoe County Board of County Commissioners meets Tuesday, Feb 23rd at 10am; 1001 E. 9th Street, Reno. This is an opportunity to tell your county commissioners what you think. Washoe County School Board meets Tuesday, Feb 23rd at 4pm, North Valleys High School. Reno City Council meets virtually on Wednesday Feb 24th and is still closed to public meeting as is the Sparks City Council which meets virtually today at 5pm, Feb 22.
As of this newsletter we have pulled our support for the Washoe Patriot Organization. As you all know, I strive to make sure that all information you receive from Nevada Patriot is accurate and that will always be the benchmark for this organization. If you have any questions, please contact me.
Best Regards,
Bruce Parks
1NevadaPatriot@gmail.com
www.NevadaPatriot.net
Gab.com@ Nevada Patriot: Conservative Politics
To view the entire Patriotic Review Newsletter https://mailchi.mp/f733914e9311/its-never-too-late-to-get-involved
As you are aware I refrain from issuing calls to action on this platform because I have witnessed others abuse the privilege. I will only send out a call to action when it is vital to the interests of this community. As we are all aware, the Reno City Council has failed to effectively address the issue of homelessness in our community. They continue to waste our tax dollars by irresponsibly putting dollar after dollar towards perpetuating the situation instead of fixing it. Now the Washoe County Commissioners are taking up the mantle and want to establish a “homelessness” fund for the purported purpose of addressing the problem; in essence, this will make all of Washoe County fiscally responsible for the failure of the Reno City Council.
I received the following email from one of our County Commissioners asking for our help.
“This is a sneaky way to transition into a new General Services Tax on ALL vehicles !!!!!!!! It will cost us millions for this slush fund. We are playing into Reno’s hand. They invite the homeless to come here and we are going to be the scapegoats who have to pay for it! And that was their plan all along. Washoe County Board of Commissioners meeting Tuesday at 10.”
I would encourage anyone that is able to come to the Washoe County Commissioners Meeting tomorrow February 9th, Tuesday at 10am, 1001 E. Ninth Street, Reno and let your voice be heard. I have spent enough time dealing with the homeless in our community that I can accurately tell you the majority of these people do not want to accept any personal responsibility for their poor life choices that lead to the situation in which they find themselves. The small minority that are incapable of managing their own affairs need our help and we have the agencies in place to provide that. What we lack is the will of our elected officials to fix the problem. The majority of these people simply want to be left alone to never become productive members of our community. There is an easy solution to this problem that our elected officials refuse to acknowledge and that is to enforce our current laws. Doing so would force the 99% to accept responsibility and change their lifestyles and will identify the 1% incapable of managing their own affairs. The specific agenda item that requires public input is Item 8.B.2 on the agenda (see below). To see the full agenda click here.
Bruce Parks
1NevadaPatriot@gmail.com
www.NevadaPatriot.net
Gab@ Nevada Patriot: Conservative Politics
To view in newsletter form: https://mailchi.mp/9595b3eee7a7/washoe-county-commissioners-throwing-your-money-down-the-drain
We have received word that legislative emails will be run through software screening for repetition; repetitive emails will be blocked. This means that generic emails will no longer get through; emails written to the legislators must be ORIGINAL and UNIQUE. (See below for the emails of Legislators.) Not to be overlooked is the value of also expressing your opinion on the Legislative Website as those opinions are officially logged and counted. https://www.leg.state.nv.us/App/Opinions/81st2021/
There was a good turn out protesting the legislative session being closed to the pubic.
Here is a short video expressing my opinions about our house being closed to us.
There is good news again! The counties of White Pine, Elko, Eureka, Lyon and most recently Nye have adopted Economic Emergency Resolutions which nullify the Governor’s mandates. What is Washoe County waiting for Commissioner Bob Lucey? The citizens of Washoe County deserve to know.
The Washoe County Board of County Commissioners meet at 10AM, Tuesday, Feb. 9th at 1001 E. Ninth Street, Reno. This is the board that refuses to put on the agenda for discussion an Economic Emergency Resolution at the request of the citizens. Bob Lucey maintains that a Resolution would only affect the unincorporated parts of Washoe County (false) and that the Resolution would be meaningless. To view his specific comments begin at minute 40:00 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qUtwr5vnltk
The Washoe County School District Board of Trustees meets this Tuesday, Feb. 9th at Sky Ranch Middle School 1200 Windmill Farms, Sparks, NV at 4pm (see below for a map and the agenda). It is up to us, the citizens, to let the board know what we think about fiscal irresponsibility and the lack of actual education that occurs in our school. There is a reason why Nevada is 49th in the nation.
This Wednesday is the Conservative Talk Lunch followed Wednesday evening by a virtual class on the Constitution. Consider signing up for the Washoe Patriots group on their website. Information for the all of these is located below.
Now, more than ever, is the time to become involved.
Best Regards,
Bruce Parks
1NevadaPatriot@gmail.com
www.NevadaPatriot.net
Gab.com@ Nevada Patriot: Conservative Politics
To view the entire Patriotic Review go here: https://mailchi.mp/46219f1bc691/tell-your-legislators-what-you-think
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