About the League

What is our mission? How are we structured? What is our history?

Our Mission.  Local Leagues.  Board.  Our History.  President's Message.

Our Mission and Roles

The League of Women Voters is a nonpartisan political organization encouraging the informed and active participation of citizens in government. It influences public policy through education and advocacy. We never support or oppose any political party or candidate.

The League of Women Voters has two separate and distinct roles.

• Voters Service/Citizen Education: we present unbiased nonpartisan information about elections, the voting process, and issues.

• Action/Advocacy: we are also nonpartisan, but, after study, we use our positions to advocate for or against particular policies in the public interest.

To conduct our voter service and citizen education activities, we use funds from the League of Women Voters of the United States Education Fund, which is a 501(c)(3) corporation, a nonprofit educational organization. The League of Women Voters, a membership organization, conducts action and advocacy and is a nonprofit 501(c)(4) corporation.

Our Vision, Beliefs, and Intentions guide our activities.

Local Leagues in Nevada

There are four local Leagues in Nevada.

• Las Vegas Valley

The Las Vegas Valley League primarily serves Clark County, except the Mesquite area, and also serves Lincoln county.

• Mesquite

The Mesquite League serves the Mesquite area of Clark County.

• Northern Nevada

The Northern Nevada League primarily serves Washoe and Douglas counties and Carson City, and also serves the rest of the state except Clark, Lincoln and Nye counties.

• Pahrump Valley

The Pahrump Valley League serves Nye County.

Board of Directors

The 2010-2011 officers and Directors for the League of Women Voters of Nevada are:

Samantha King: President; Rosemary Gary: Vice President; Frances Rust: Secretary; Vivian Fully: Treasurer; Directors: Mary Liveratti, Sandy Metcalf, and Betty Pardo

The President of the Mesquite League is Karen Beardsley. The President of the Northern Nevada League is Lisa Stiller. The President of the Las Vegas Valley League is Sandy Metcalf. The President of the Pahrump Valley League is Dina Williamson.

History of the League of Women Voters

Read a short history of the League of Women Voters.

President's Message

Reverse the Present Dumbing Down of our Students

Sunday, October 18, 2009, the Las Vegas Sun printed a Paul Krugman column--"The dumbing down of America." Mr. Krugman explained that "Education made this country great: ignoring it would have the reverse effect...Until now, the results of educational neglect have been gradual +a slow motion erosion of America's relative position. But things are about to get much worse as the economic crisis-its effects exacerbated by the penny-wise, pound foolish behavior that passes for `fiscal responsibility' in Washington" (and trickles down into local and state governments) ..."deals a severe blow to education across the board.... There is no mystery about what is going on: Education is mainly the responsibility of state and local governments, both are in dire fiscal straits... Education is one of those areas that should and normally does keep growing during a recession. Markets may be troubled, but that's no reason to stop teaching our children. Nevertheless, that is exactly what we are doing by neglecting the evidence that America must transform its systems of education so as to improve the economic climate and quality of life for the citizens of the United States. "To add to the erosion of American education, students are dropping out of school... young Americans are less likely to graduate from college. " Many concerned individuals have recognized the erosion of education and are trying to reverse the process. Bill and Melinda Gates, cochairmen of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, are investing billions of dollars in an effort to spark a transformation in American education. "It is so important, to get all of the children educated."Melinda Gates. "For a country that once led the world in educating its citizens, we are now moving in the wrong direction....Our performance at every level +primary and secondary instruction and achievement, high school graduation, college entry, college completion-is dropping against the rest of the world."Bill Gates. Statistics support that American kids drop out of high school on an average of one every 26 seconds and that only one third of those who graduate are prepared to move on to a four-year college. In Nevada, a number of reports put our state at the bottom in number of students who graduate from high school and at the top of those same lists as a state with one of the highest dropout rates in the country. Quality of life of individuals and entire communities rests on an educated productive population. Public education, available to all and the premise that higher learning is accessible to all, has long been a fundamental part of the American Dream lending everyone the right to upward mobility and unlimited opportunities. Together, education and employment opportunities create a universal currency which purchases and sustains economic success and a quality of life which was once the envy of the rest of the world. There has never been a lack of verbal commitment to keeping students in school, to providing that they transition into post secondary education and into the workforce. Nor has there been a lack of promises to develop a pathway for lifelong learning to ensure that as new career possibilities arise, citizens will meet the challenges to fill those jobs. Clark County School District personnel, as required by all school districts nationwide, must report dropouts as defined and required by No Child Left Behind. Soon the formula established to report dropouts by the National Governor's Council will unify how states report dropout statistics. One of my political science professors, Barry Farrell, Northwestern University, Evanston, Illinois, taught us that statistics are critical to any argument; however, to base one's argument only on statistics is unwise. Reporting systems and the No Child Left Behind punitive measures have not improved the reality described by Mr. Krugman as the "dumbing down of American systems of education."Student achievement and economic recovery are tied to developing both a community and a national plan for economic recovery. The solution must become a working consistent plan which is welcomed and clearly understood. Franklin Roosevelt's first Inaugural Address is famous for the quote "The only thing we have to fear is fear itself. "The rest of the story; however, is that in that same speech, President Roosevelt said "Our greatest primary task is to put people to work. " The country should treat that task "as we would treat the emergency of war." In order to put people to work, people must be prepared for all available jobs. Studies support that effective systems of education which educates all of our students do far more in combating poverty than welfare systems. To paraphrase the list of powers that the United States Constitution gives to Congress, policy must be such that it does all that is necessary and proper to support our citizens, including policy which provides educational systems which successfully educate all students. Challenges to American educational systems are overwhelming. This does not mean that challenges can not be met and overcome. In addition to the challenges of dropout rates and completion rates, many of the students in our systems are "minority students". Cultural differences impact the way students learn. A comprehensive, consistent, standards +based, culturally inclusive action plan to keep students in school, to re-engage those who, for whatever individual reasons have dropped out , to promote and provide career education for all students and to build upon a P-16 seamless pathway for all students is the linchpin to stopping any further erosion to the American system of education. Martin Luther King said, "The function of education is to teach one to think intensively and to think critically... intelligence plus character... that is the goal of education." Education in the 21st Century faces the three new R's- Rigor, Relevance and Relationships. To halt the erosion of our systems of education, there must be a visible fourth R- Results.

To see that students are able to develop "intelligence and character " education systems must provide students the motivation to say in school and develop the skills to transition into higher education, post secondary training and the work force. The present K-12 model must adapt so as to provide more than standards. There must be standards, nevertheless equally important to rigorous and clearly defined standards; students must be taught that education is a process. Students must be taught the process so they are able to meet the next skill level of lifelong learning. With the present local and national economic recession, failure to increase funding formulas can no longer be an excuse. Failure to improve the way we educate students is unacceptable. Depending on stimulus windfalls to support our educational systems is a gamble. Blaming parents for the cycle of family dysfunction or blaming the reality of violence among our youth because they are disengaged and simply may have nothing better to do, does not address the reality that we must improve our system of education. Proactive structural change is our only hope. We can build on the American Dream and democratic principles of equal opportunity for all. We must use our ability to adapt, begin to work smarter, and use technology, appropriately to replace the erosion of the American system of education. The Industrial Revolution and the democratic experiment are all part of American history which served us well and in the 20th century resulted in America having one of the best qualities of life among nations. How history reports progress in the 21st Century is a work in progress. When used appropriately, online instruction can help all students on all levels. There are many programs and all vary in design. Online programs used in partnerships with school districts dedicated to recovering and re-engaging students who have dropped out are working models in Texas, Florida and Ohio. Online courses assist students transition into post secondary course work and career opportunities. The self-paced virtual learning environment moves away from the traditional brick and mortar 20th century model. To often schools face limited flexibility, miss opportunities to meet the needs of students who need alternative learning opportunities including flexible schedules, childcare consideration, and understanding that there are students who may have health issues. All students need to see how coursework is relevant to them. 21st Century students are wired differently than students in the 20th Century and respond to online course work which is self-paced + providing either slower or enhanced learning paths. Some of the very learning environments which students will meet in post secondary education and the work force are modeled within online partnerships. The key to dropout recovery is providing students with the motivation to try again. Granted online instruction is not for everyone. There is no one-size fits all for any solution. Online, virtual options are available and have proven results. Too many students are dropping out. When school districts are asked if they have a dropout prevention plan, most can pull out the folder and show services they have. However, when school districts are asked if they have a dropout recovery plan, the folder often is not there. Dropout prevention and dropout recovery are related,nevertheless dropout prevention and dropout recovery are not the same thing. There must be a framework and platform for a defined dropout recovery plan. The virtual leaning option must be part of the solution, helps both traditional and non-traditional students, and re-engages students by building on a virtual learning environment with relevant career and technical programs supporting school districts not competing with them for funding. Existing model partnerships have helped school districts move in the right direction, students are returning to school, staying in school and graduating. This translates into school districts enrolling more students in school, increasing funding under existing formulas, (not that funding formulas in Nevada are acceptable), lowering dropout rates, reducing truancy rates,helping students remain engaged and motivated by educational opportunities including career training and post secondary transition. Partnerships are a move in the right direction toward the fourth R- positive results. This is a viable option. To this point local dialogue has been analytical, which is the beginning of working though the problem. Recently the news media reported that UNLV will undertake studies to collect data as to why students are not successful in higher education + why higher education must provide remediation for students. There is a 6.2 million dollar contract between UNLV's Division of Educational Outreach to develop 33 courses to encompass a virtual high school since "Virtual classes are more stable. " While this is truly encouraging, perhaps it is also redundant since there are virtual high school platforms consisting of considerably more than 33 courses including introductory and transition career courses shovel ready and available. Dr. Bill Daggett, President of the International Center for Leadership in Education, noted that "We are loosing too many students from our schools, and we know one thing for sure + putting at-risk students into the same curriculum, the same methodology, and the same environment will not work." Paraphrasing former Speaker Newt Gingrich, during a round table discussion on"Meet the Press" "Education is fundamental to addressing our nation's economic recovery and our national security and improving our systems of education is the number one issue in civil rights for the 21st Century.

Paul Krugman warns that the key to our nation's historic success is educating all our citizens, our most precious asset. To neglect education reform is not an option for our nation and our communities. The Nevada Youth Legislature created during the 2007 legislative session composed of 21 teens selected by Nevada's 21 State Senators proposed, as their bill draft, legislation to reduce compulsory school attendance to 16 years of age as a way to offer "more choices for teens". Is legally allowing more Nevada students to dropout wise? This is surely not a move in the right direction, however is a proposal from some our brightest teens. This is truly a sad comment as to how we motivate all students and how our present system demonstrates the relevance of an education and models the importance of remaining in school and graduating. A secondary exit credential is the ticket to enter post secondary training, higher education and the work force. We must communicate this to students and provide systems which motivate all students to remain engaged in their education not allow them to dropout. Looking at successful partnership models including existing virtual high school programs with proven success records and implementing a plan with career components and clear transition to post secondary education and training will provide a platform to transform the present education system K-16. We must do better, one way is to transform that which we are doing--this transformation can not wait simply because it is not the idea of the present state or local administrative teams nor is there any viable or fiscally responsible reason to study and recreate courses when they exist. The time for action is now. Look at working models. Adapting makes sense as the way to move in the right direction.

Respectfully,

Sam King, President of the League of Voters of Nevada

Comments, suggestions, questions? Contact our webmaster. Last revised: August 6, 2010 20:32 PDT.

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