State still struggles in education rankings

Clark County results offer some optimism

Nevada still ranked near the bottom of an influential biennial ranking of the nation’s public schools released Tuesday, but the news was better when Clark County was compared to other large, urban districts.

Results from the 2017 National Assessment of Education Progress showed little national improvement. Eighth-grade reading showed a slight improvement, but scores in other categories – fourth-grade math and reading and eighth-grade math — remained flat.

Nevada ranked no higher than 43rd in any of the categories, which include the 50 states, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and Department of Defense schools.

“We still have a long way to go to ensure all students are achieving at levels we know they’re all capable of,” said Brett Barley, deputy superintendent for student achievement in the Nevada Department of Education.

Clark County, which was ranked separately in the tests for the first time, fared better in comparison to 26 other large, urban school districts, including Boston, Chicago, Detroit, Miami-dade County and New York City. Clark County’s results were clustered around the midpoint in all four categories. “Those comparisons are pretty re

SCHOOLS

worth it.

“All the effort that would be required to push back on this one person’s detention could be better spent going after half a dozen other illegal immigrants that aren’t on the front page of the newspaper,” Krikorian said.

A motion to reopen Gomez’s case is pending, Barrera said, after which the path to citizenship will take years. In the meantime, Gomez and her family are enjoying their reunion after 10 strenuous days apart.

“I know that you guys don’t know us, or some of you don’t know us,” Ricardo Avelar-gomez told community members via news station video and livestreams, “but the fact that you stood with us and supported us, it really means a lot to me and my family.”

Contact Jessie Bekker at jbekker@ reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4563. Follow @jessiebekks on Twitter.

Andrea Cornejo Las Vegas Review-journal @dreacornejo Cecilia Gomez reads a statement with her sons Ricardo Avelar-gomez, 18, left, and Eric Avelar-gomez, 13, during a news conference about her release from ICE detention at the Las Vegas Worker Center.