Rory Reid discusses EDGE plan for K-12 
March 26, 2010 by Pashtana Usufzy
Reid offers new vision to help stregnthen Nevada education
Rory Reid unveiled his EDGE plan for K-12 schools to nearly 120 guests at a Walter Bracken Elementary School town hall meeting Thursday evening, hinting that a higher education road-map is on the way.
“Renewing our commitment to education is the only way we’ll rebuild our economy and make our state great,” Reid said.
Parents, community members and state legislators attended the event, hoping to hear Reid’s plans in person.
“I want to make sure that Rory Reid puts education [as his] number one [priority],” said Clark County School District counselor Loretta Harper.
Reid told audience members that he will encourage more independence for schools, expectations for educators and an increased investment in K-12 schooling.
“I’ll stand up to anyone who refuses to reform and strengthen our schools,” Reid told a cheering audience. “I’ll never give up on our kids.”
The event also served as an opportunity for Reid to explain what he believes sets him apart from other candidates.
“This is the first time that a leader in Nevada has offered a comprehensive vision about how we can improve our schools,” he said.
Chants of ‘Rory, Rory’ greeted Reid, who launched his campaign last October with an economic plan calling for an overhaul of state education.
He said his message to Nevada voters is that education is necessary for economic success for Nevada.
“We would be able to recruit businesses that otherwise won’t come here because they believe we don’t have quality schools to educate their children,” Reid said, “and they believe we can’t provide them with an educated workforce.”
Citing the state’s high school graduation rates and its current 49th place education ranking out of 50 states, Reid said a major transformation must take place.
“We’ll never improve our economy unless we make our schools better,” he said. “They’re linked.”
He added that there will be difficulty in reversing the “brain drain” of qualified students out of the state when there are some who do not value education.
“Even if you don’t have a child in school right now, you have an interest in education,” Reid said.
Nevada System of Higher Education chancellor Dan Klaich also attended the event as a representative of the Governor’s Task Force on Education.
“My hope for any governor is to understand that education is the key to our future,” he said.
He added that he thought the discussion at the town hall was more controlled and expected, but he agreed that something must change in K-12 education.
“We can’t just have this pipeline of students coming in with no goals, no expectations,” he emphasizing that higher education benefits from a strong K-12 system.
Reid agreed.
“Higher education, it’s part of the same system,” he said. “If we’re going to have an educated workforce [drawing] new jobs and attract new industries here, higher education is a part of that, too.”
Rory is turning out to be quiet impressive while Gibbons and Sandoval remain quiet and without direction. If things keep going this way, the Republicans are going to be very disseminated about the outcome of the gubernatorial election outcome.
-R.C.
[...] candidate Rory Reid put forth his education plan, Economic Development through Greater Education (EDGE), on March 22, 2010. He held a town hall meeting that night at 6:30 pm at Bracken Elementary [...]
What exactly is your plan to improve the educational system?
Educational reform is going to have to start with the family unit. Parents need to put education first and understand their role in educating their children. It’s a team effort with parents at the helm. To expect excellence from the schools, we need to expect excellence from our children. Make school a priority. Get involved in working with teachers to educate our children. The kids who succeed in our public schools have parents who make it happen.