Kudos to Gibbons for taking an immediate stand
Jim Clark
special to the Bonanza
January 28, 2007
Well done, Governor Gibbons! Despite the lobbying of the Association of Nevada School Superintendents, the election season bleating of your opponent Dina Titus and the post election posturing of the Assembly Democrat leadership, you didn’t rise to the bait and call for […]

Another Jim (Jim Hukari) is facts averse and on the opposite end of the spectrum. My former school board opponent penned a letter to the editor with more spin than the Virginia Reel (a colonial dance).
The new strategy is to say opponents of all-day K simply need to visit the classes to become believers. […]

All-Day Kindergarten Overview
Definitive Studies
• U.S Department of Ed. Early Childhood Longitudinal Study, Kindergarten Class of 1998 (ECLS-K) 22,000 children at K entry, only data set of its kind
• Goldwater Institute’s Assessing Proposals for Preschool & Kindergartners: Essential Information for Parents, Taxpayers, & Policy Makers
• Kansas Report, by Dr. Sherrill Martinez and Lue Ann Snider with the Planning and […]

Young children should be kept out of government schools
In his recent letter to you (Kindergarten opponents ignoring the evidence) Eugene Paslov got it exactly backwards. There is plenty of evidence in favor of children spending as few of their years in government schools as possible. I’ll cite just a few.
In 1994 the Organization for Economic […]

Three ideas for Carson schools: a syllabus; merit pay; parental choice

In April 2005, I wrote an Appeal article on Carson High’s failure to teach most of its students pre-Civil War American history, a practice I had verified with a teacher, students and a school board member who had discussed it with administrators.

The district launched a misinformation campaign to cover up its practice. Making the problem public had benefits, though, because Carson High last year began to teach more early American history so it could claim it was doing so all along. While that’s false, at least the curriculum was slightly improved because we raised the issue.

Bob Chitester, producer of the PBS series Free to Choose, wrote me about Monday being Milton Friedman Day. Our local Reno PBS station KNPB/Channel 5 will air The Power of Choice at 10:00 pm Monday evening. Bob’s personal reflections about Milton can be read by clicking here.
Milton Friedman made a major impact on me and […]

Proponents Advance to the Rear
Reporter Hetty Chang aired a report on all-day kindergarten interviewing Superintendent Paul Dugan and me on the issue. Proponents for the $186 million program will have to do better than saying, “Opponents haven’t visited the kindergarten classes.” We have visited, attended, and even graduated (some may contend otherwise) kindergarten classes.
Call me […]

Michael Strembitsky, the father of the Edmonton reforms, spoke to legislators and education reformers Jan. 24th about the benefits and challenges involved in the innovative approach in education. Governor Gibbons described the program as more effective and responsive in his State of the State address and was present for the orientation.
Strembitsky related the numerous benefits […]

Do you remember when we used to look at Soviet citizens waiting in long lines to shop at the government stores and think to ourselves, “Those poor people, if only they knew better and had the choice and selections like we do.” Keep this in mind as you read about parents cajoling and begging school […]

This is where the rubber meets the road in K-12 education. Despite class-size reduction, increased per pupil spending, and pretended accountability with the likes of the “high stakes” but low level competency tests to graduate, too many students are graduating our high schools and going to college needing to take remedial classes in English and […]

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