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

Along with the large salary, car allowance and bully office, the superintendent occupation astatine the Clark County School District seemingly comes with different little-known perk: a tin cup.

Jesus Jara journeyed to Washington this week to beg for much wealth from national taxpayers, telling a House subcommittee Wednesday that President Joe Biden’s unprecedented $3.5 trillion spending blowout connection would assistance schoolhouse districts code nagging pandemic-related issues.

“The needs are great,” said Mr. Jara, who oversees Clark County’s monolithic nationalist schoolhouse system, the fifth-largest territory successful the country.

It’s hard to blasted Mr. Jara. For those firmly entrenched successful the acquisition establishment, different people’s wealth is the magic elixir that volition conquer each problems if they tin conscionable get a small spot much … and much … and much — successful perpetuity. If Santa Joe successful the White House is intent connected handing retired trillions successful “free” cash, wherefore not unreserved the line?

But excuse the taxpayers if they request a world check.

The Clark County School District — with an yearly fund successful the vicinity of $2.6 cardinal — has already received a whopping $1.265 cardinal successful national pandemic wealth arsenic portion of the 3 microorganism alleviation packages approved by Congress implicit the past 17 months. Mr. Jara and his squad inactive haven’t figured retired however to walk each that loot and person been conducting a “community listening tour” implicit the past fewer months designed to question input from residents astir however to allocate the funds.

Suffice it to accidental that overmuch of that wealth volition beryllium utilized for programs lone tangentially related to the pandemic oregon connected initiatives unrelated to shoring up pupil achievement. Yet the superintendent’s connection is clear: Keep it coming.

In the meantime, territory trial scores stay abysmal, with astir three-quarters of Clark County students entering precocious schoolhouse lacking proficiency successful speechmaking oregon basal mathematics. The state’s ACT scores — an indicator of assemblage readiness — are the worst successful the nation. The Jara administration’s effect has been to beforehand a program to dumb-down grading standards and to measurement up the panhandling.

The territory already has plentifulness of national currency to instrumentality strategies intended to mitigate the harm of much than a twelvemonth of distant learning, which should beryllium Mr. Jara’s priority. State lawmakers besides accrued territory backing during the 2019 session. Before national taxpayers are forced to constitute Mr. Jara different hefty check, possibly helium should shelve the tin cupful and explicate however the erstwhile allocations person improved pupil outcomes.