November 30, 2011/Las Vegas Review-Journal

Education is the key to fixing Nevada's economy.

That was the consensus Tuesday at a town hall meeting featuring U.S. Secretary of Education Arne Duncan and a host of state and local education leaders.

"Jobs are going to go to where the knowledge workers are," Duncan told a crowd of about 500 at the College of Southern Nevada.

The event, billed as a town hall meeting to talk about education and the economy, was open to the public.

Nevada's higher education chancellor, Dan Klaich, hosted, while Clark County School District Superintendent Dwight Jones, Clark County Education Association President Ruben Murillo and Communities In Schools Chairman Elaine Wynn, among others, were on the panel.

Jones touted reforms, including what is called the Colorado Growth Model, which measures each student's progress over time.

He said one of the district's greatest challenges was dealing with funding cuts, but he added that those cuts have forced authorities to focus on what works and what does not.

Jones noted that more than half of the 20,600 high school seniors in the district are "at risk," meaning they might not graduate. He said good teachers are the key to improving the state's education system.

"At the end of the day," he said, "it's not about a great program, it's about a great teacher."

Read the full article at the Las Vegas Review-Journal.