I-Team: Students Weigh In on Education Reforms

LAS VEGAS -- If parents, teachers and administrators are frustrated by the quality of education in our community, try being the student in a classroom with nearly 50 kids -- some of whom don't even have a desk.

To Clark County high school seniors Taylor Ashton, Reed McGinley-Stempel, Emily Jackson and Neimy Escobar, the state of education in Nevada leaves little to laugh about.

"I think Nevada is at a disadvantage because you feel like you're at the top of your class because you're ranked number 11. But really, we're not really," said Jackson, a Bonanza High senior.

Jackson and her classmates question their individual achievement when compared to students in other states. Each plan to compete for university admission outside of Nevada, with transcripts from a district where only 42-percent of students reported entry into a four-year college in 2009.

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"You have to have the motivation within to want to go to college or want to continue education. But at the same time, I think it's a lot on the teachers and the actual school pushing their students and trying to make those opportunities available for higher education," said Ashton, a Green Valley High senior.

Ashton and his friends pursue honors, advanced placement and other college prep classes. Yet class size often tops 40 students or more, even in advanced classes.

"Getting individual attention, some of the class sizes are just so large sometimes it's hard to approach the teacher on your own and get help on a specific situation or problem," said Escobar, a Clark High senior.

"That's also how a lot of kids get left behind because they can hide in a classroom of 50 kids if they're not learning the material and just get on to the next year," said McGinley-Stempel, a Green Valley High senior.

Improving student performance is the goal of education plans outlined by gubernatorial candidates Brian Sandoval and Rory Reid. While each pledges some level of local control, these students suggest principals and teachers should have broader authority over school curriculum, scheduling and budgets.

"Someone at a state level or a district level doesn't understand the school and the school's needs and what's needed to make the community a better place than the principal or the administration that's actually in the school on any given day," said Ashton.

Despite their doubts in the system, the students express confidence in the educators who have gotten them this far. Keenly aware education reform if it comes will come too late for them. The seniors offer this straight-faced reminder to those putting political platforms into practice.

"All we want to do is succeed. We're searching for it. We're reaching for it and it's frustrating sometimes because I think the idea of that gets left behind. So remember, it's all about the kids," said Jackson.