While Nevada as a whole ranked at the very bottom of an analysis of children’s well-being, Elko County is doing considerably better said School District Superintendent Jeff Zander.
“The county is somewhere in the middle,” Zander said this week. “Most of the real bad results are coming from Clark County which still has a really high unemployment and other factors.”
The report was released by the Annie E. Casey Foundation this week.
“Nevada continues to gain ground, but we remain in 50th place. That’s unacceptable,” Nevada Superintendent of Public Instruction Dale Erquiaga told the Review Journal. “We’re changing the way the state department (of education) works and expect districts to do the same.”
According to the analysis Nevada children didn’t fare much better for overall well-being, beating only New Mexico and Mississippi for the umbrella ranking taking into account children’s health, education, economic security and state of families and the community.
“I wasn’t surprised at all,” said Rennae Daneshvary, director of Nevada’s portion of the 25th annual Kids Count report told the Review Journal.
With its huge almost 2 million population Clark County makes up over two thirds of all Nevada residents however there is a vast difference between the glitter and glitz of the Strip and the ranch lands of rural Nevada. And the statistics in eduction by county bear it out. Clark County has a drop out rate of well over six percent while Elko county’s rate is just of one percent.
Over six percent of Clark county High School students fail their proficiency test while in Elko the number is 3.8 percent.
Almost a quarter of Clark County children are living in poverty according to the analysis compared to 13 percent in Elko County.
Still suffering from the 2008 recession Clark County’s unemployment rate is close to eight percent. Elko County’s is less than six.
“It is really comparing two different states,” Zander said. “But because Clark county has such a huge population in overwhelms anything coming our of Elko. Yes we have our problems here but they are also unique from Las Vegas.”
