Charter conversions

Some 21 local campuses are now eligible for conversion to charter status thanks to their poor performance.

Under state law, schools that are in the bottom 5 percent statewide or have graduation rates below 60 percent are put on a list of potential charter conversions. Up to six schools will eventually be selected to pair with three approved charter operators by next year. Teachers and administrators will have to reapply for their jobs. Not everyone is happy about that. Clark County School District officials argue that many of the struggling schools are already involved in programs designed to improve achievement levels and deserve more time to yield results. And on Thursday, dozens of parents at a meeting of the state Board of Education expressed their opposition to such a move.

The sentiment is understandable. Change is difficult and even many families whose children attend deficient schools remain suspicious and wary of the unknown.

Perhaps a bit more information and transparency might go a long way toward alleviating parental concerns.

For instance, the Review-Journal’s Amelia Pak-Harvey reports that the state has yet to release individual test scores for each school, so there’s no way at this point for parents at the affected campuses to judge how their school made the list. That’s odd. Education officials might be able to quell some of the protests if they had hard data to better explain the process. Not all parents showed up in opposition. “What future will my children have,” Dalia Jimenez asked, “and so many children more, with a one- or two-star education?”

Indeed.

Your Thursday front-page story, “Female Dems in despair over results,” was an indication of behavior that has arisen out of the belief that participation deserves a reward. Rioters, students and these women feel cheated because things they wanted didn’t happen.

This election had nothing to do with gender. Voters elected the person they believed to be the lesser of two evils. Hillary Clinton lost because of questionable activities involving the Clinton Foundation, irresponsible behavior and the fact that she has been accused of violating federal law. Her gender was not the problem.

If the presidential candidates had been Carly Fiorina and Bernie Sanders, would the Hillary supporters have pushed so hard to break that glass ceiling? I think not. The Democrat Party is about bigger government and advancing an extreme leftwing agenda.

Some people just don’t think clearly. Hillary Clinton did make history — she was the first woman to lose the presidency. Thank goodness!

The Thursday ReviewJournal front page really cinched me up. It was the second day since Donald Trump triumphed and won the presidency. He prevailed despite the liberal media, GOP negativities, lies, ridicule, bias, voter fraud and many other negatives. Yet your front page features a big picture of Hillary Clinton and supporters discussing her candidacy and urging we give Mr. Trump a “chance to lead.”

The second picture is of Barack Obama with a headline about him inviting Mr. Trump to our White House.

Where is the picture of Donald Trump? Mr. Trump will be the new president. Have we not seen enough of Mr. Obama in the past eight years to last a lifetime? Give fair coverage to our new president. It is a big deal. He will save America. The people have just spoken and it might be time for the Review-Journal to also listen.

To all my Republican friends who greeted me Wednesday with shouts of “When you moving to Canada?” I would like to add this bit of election reality: All of the candidates I voted for this election won in Nevada. All of the candidates you voted for lost. We now have a great senator-elect and two new Democratic House members.

The person I supported for president won Nevada and received more popular votes nationwide then the Republican candidate. The last time this happened, you

I was born in Winnipeg. For those considering a move to Canada, I have a few suggestions.

Avoid Winnipeg winters. Two things have been said about Winnipeg winters. First, that winter is every day of the year except the afternoon of July 1. This might not be factually correct, but you get the (snow) drift. Second, the corner of Portage and Main is the coldest and windiest corner in North America. This is closer to the truth.

One should move to Canada’s banana belt, which is largely around Vancouver. Living in Canada’s banana belt simply means during winter you can wear a lighter-weight parka.

Enjoy the country of my birth.

In response to Linda Millard’s Thursday letter in which she wrote that the election results were “living proof that money talks, and you can buy anything you want”: Hillary Clinton spent three times as much in her election campaign than did Donald Trump.

Although not my choice, Donald Trump will be my president as of January 2017. As such, I pledge the same degree of respect that the GOP had for President Barack Obama over the past eight years.