We Must Invest in Public Education
Tony T. Smith will work to invest in our public education system so that our schools meet the needs of every child. This includes increasing magnet schools in our community, allowing teachers flexibility to accommodate the different ways children learn, providing universal access to pre-K, and allowing experimentation with innovative ways to teach, such as using community gardens to teach science and nutrition. Tony also wants to ensure equality of education by creating mechanisms to eliminate disparities in resources between schools. Finally, Tony also wants to ensure civic education is a focus through all grades - our children need to be equipped with the tools to fully participate in our republic.
an innovative education system that serves all students
Tony wants Nevada's students to have access to the most innovative education system in the nation. That is why he wants to reform our State's education standards to allow greater flexibility to local school districts to explore setting up more specialized programs that will accommodate the many different ways that children learn. A one-size-fits-all mentality and strict zoning requirements prevent us from providing the best education possible to every child in our community. We must empower teachers working day in and day out with students to find the best approaches to meet each individual child's needs.
Universal access to pre-k for Nevada's families
Pre-K education has been demonstrated to improve the long-term academic performance of children as well as narrowing student achievement gaps based on income disparities. That is why Tony T. Smith will fight to ensure Nevada's families have access to public pre-K education and the associated benefits.
Emphasizing civic education
For almost two decades the importance of basic civic education has been neglected in our public schools, leading to a crisis where large percentages of our students are unaware of the basic history and structure of our democratic republic. This is why Tony T. Smith will fight to make civic education a central part of public education in Nevada's schools from elementary school through graduation of high school.