EDITORIAL: What CCSD needs in its next superintendent

The circus at the Clark County School District continues. The Review-Journal reports that the Board of Trustees may reverse course on terminating Superintendent Jesus Jara’s contract.

That would be a mistake. The school district needs a new leader. It’s imperative that board members identify and hire someone with the proper qualifications and outlook.

The stakes for the district’s 300,000 students couldn’t be higher. After distance learning, test results show the vast majority of students are below grade level in reading, math or both. Mr. Jara’s refusal to hold back struggling students only helped perpetuate failure.

But the district’s many pathologies date far in advance of the pandemic.

It’s not hyperbole to note that any decision regarding the superintendent will have life-altering significance for many students. The leader of the district must make student achievement the priority, not an afterthought. This would boost the future prospects of tens of thousands of students, producing a lifetime of benefits. It may sound trite, but it’s true: A good education is one of the best ways to escape generational poverty.

The superintendent enjoys broad operational control, even if the school board theoretically maintains ultimate authority. Rather than revisit Mr. Jara’s status, the district should be focused on bringing in a leader who prioritizes student learning over centralizing authority. That attitude would produce significant changes. For one, the district should encourage more parental autonomy — from expanding charter schools to open enrollment to private schools — not fight it.

The district should hire a superintendent who would encourage charter school operators to provide nearby alternatives or allow them to rent district buildings. From New Orleans to Denver, there is ample precedent for traditional public schools having strong working relationships with charter schools. The benefits go to students and families.

A new superintendent is needed to expand open enrollment and reauthorize principals to approve zone variances. Principals should be able to decide how many more students can fit on their campuses. Putting more students in the district’s best schools is common sense.

For students with special needs, the district should be identifying families who’d prefer scholarships for private schools over attending district ones. Done properly, that would save the district money and improve the education of special-needs children.

The district needs a superintendent who will fully embrace the empowerment model of school governance. Schools will operate more efficiently if principals control most of their budgets and are able to set aside money for future use. One of Mr. Jara’s major mistakes was his misguided effort to sweep that money into the district’s central coffers.

That freedom must come with responsibility. If a principal doesn’t meet accountability metrics established before each school year, he or she should be put on notice and, absent improvements, replaced.

Accountability in the classroom is also a must. Mr. Jara’s dumbed down grading policy was a colossal error and needs to be rolled back. A more stringent teacher evaluation process — long fought by the unions — would also help. Improving student achievement starts with good teachers and being honest about what students know and don’t know.

The district needs a superintendent willing to stand up to its employee unions, especially the Clark County Education Association. Mr. Jara has not done so. The superintendent should never offer district funds to bail out the failing THT Trust, as Mr. Jara has done. Educators should be moved to a health insurance plan that provides transparency and accountability.

Changes such as these would draw complaints from many of the system’s most powerful adults, including some trustees. But when student achievement has remained so abysmal for decades, upsetting the entrenched interests is a necessary condition of progress.

This won’t be an easy path, as evidenced by the Trustees’ waffling. But now is not the time to look back.