VICTOR JOECKS: Chicago proves that money won’t fix CCSD

Anyone who argues that a lack of funding is the Clark County School District’s fundamental problem needs to look at Chicago.

The CCSD is facing a $20 million-plus budget shortfall. Higher-than-projected costs for teacher pay hikes also recently strained school-based budgets. The financial problems come after Gov. Joe Lombardo and state legislators enacted a record increase in education funding. This year, Nevada’s per-pupil funding is more than $13,000. That’s more than a 25 percent increase over two years.

All that new money didn’t improve student achievement. In the 2017-18 school year, 46.6 percent of district third graders were proficient in English and 48.6 percent were proficient in math. Last year, fewer than 40 percent of third graders were proficient in English. Math proficiency was 41.5 percent. Those are significant drop-offs.

Amid the finger-pointing and failure, one thing is certain. Next January, the Clark County Education Association and the education establishment will blame their failures on a lack of money. The record funding increase will be ignored or dismissed as little more than an inconsequential token. Just like Lucy holding the football for Charlie Brown, the education blob will claim that, this time, more money will fix everything.

It won’t. Consider Chicago.

There are some interesting parallels between Chicago Public Schools and CCSD. With just under 325,000 students, CPS is a bit larger than CCSD. Its CEO is Pedro Martinez, who once served as a deputy superintendent in CCSD. Just like in Las Vegas, the district also has a very influential union.

There is one big difference. This year, the Chicago district budgeted around $26,000 a student. That’s nearly twice as much as Nevada’s per-pupil funding.

If money fixed education, Chicago would be a national model of excellence. It’s not.

It has dozens of schools without a single student proficient in math. On the Nation’s Report Card in 2022, just 22 percent of Chicago’s fourth graders were proficient in reading. Only 15 percent of its eighth graders were proficient in math. The Clark County School District performed better. Twenty-four percent of its fourth graders were proficient in reading. In eighth-grade math, it was 20 percent. This test is different from the third-grade test referenced above.

Chicago can’t even balance its budget. The New York Times reported the district had a “$1 billion gap” in its finances. Mayor Brandon Johnson wants the district to take a short-term, high-interest loan to make up the shortfall. In protest, the entire school board resigned last week. Martinez is on the chopping block as well. It’s a disaster.

If you want CCSD to avoid Chicago’s fate, one thing you can do is help select some better School Board members. Emily Stevens in District A, Lydia Dominguez in District B and Lorena Biassotti in District E would make great trustees. Many people don’t know who to vote for in down ballot races. Tell them.

Because as bad as CCSD is, it could always become worse and more expensive.