EDITORIAL: Jara heads to Washington in search of more taxpayer cash

Along with the big salary, car allowance and nice office, the superintendent job at the Clark County School District apparently comes with another little-known perk: a tin cup.

Jesus Jara journeyed to Washington this week to beg for more money from federal taxpayers, telling a House subcommittee Wednesday that President Joe Biden’s unprecedented $3.5 trillion spending blowout proposal would help school districts address nagging pandemic-related issues.

“The needs are great,” said Mr. Jara, who oversees Clark County’s massive public school system, the fifth-largest district in the country.

It’s hard to blame Mr. Jara. For those firmly entrenched in the education establishment, other people’s money is the magic elixir that will conquer all problems if they can just get a little bit more … and more … and more — in perpetuity. If Santa Joe in the White House is intent on handing out trillions in “free” cash, why not rush the line?

But excuse the taxpayers if they demand a reality check.

The Clark County School District — with an annual budget in the neighborhood of $2.6 billion — has already received a whopping $1.265 billion in federal pandemic money as part of the three virus relief packages approved by Congress over the past 17 months. Mr. Jara and his team still haven’t figured out how to spend all that loot and have been conducting a “community listening tour” over the past few months designed to seek input from residents about how to allocate the funds.

Suffice it to say that much of that money will be used for programs only tangentially related to the pandemic or on initiatives unrelated to shoring up student achievement. Yet the superintendent’s message is clear: Keep it coming.

In the meantime, district test scores remain abysmal, with roughly three-quarters of Clark County students entering high school lacking proficiency in reading or basic mathematics. The state’s ACT scores — an indicator of college readiness — are the worst in the nation. The Jara administration’s response has been to promote a plan to dumb-down grading standards and to step up the panhandling.

The district already has plenty of federal cash to implement strategies intended to mitigate the damage of more than a year of remote learning, which should be Mr. Jara’s priority. State lawmakers also increased district funding during the 2019 session. Before federal taxpayers are forced to write Mr. Jara another hefty check, perhaps he should shelve the tin cup and explain how the previous allocations have improved student outcomes.