Why are you running for a seat on the Board of Education? What is your vision of success for this role?

My name is René Cantú, and I am running for Nevada State Board of Education (SBE), District 3. I am running because our students are in more trouble than they have ever been. I know that I am making a difference both as a current member of the board, and in my professional career dedicated to helping historically underserved students to graduate and find career pathways.

I know that my work on the State Board of Education is making a difference. Over the last four years, we have focused on bringing Clark County School District (CCSD) into greater compliance with the school district reorganization that was passed over five years ago. We have also been looking at ways that the State Board of Education can provide the leadership and corresponding regulation where it is needed to ensure our students and families come first in the efforts of all schools.

My decisions are ALWAYS filtered through the lens of what is in the best interest of students and their families. Despite recent historical investments in Nevada education, our absenteeism rate is higher than it has ever been. Our teachers are demoralized, and our students are disconnected from schools. Our largest school boards are consumed with internecine arguments. The State Board of Education can be a catalyst to provide leadership to help improve our schools.

How do you define student success? What experience do you have and what role do you intend to play in advocating for student success?

Student success begins when our schools effectively provide ALL students with a safe, positive learning environment where they are valued, nurtured, met where they are academically and emotionally and guided to their fullest potential, We have a long way to go, but I believe that we can achieve this definition of student success through investment, collaboration, engagement and relentless effort. Student success is not a test score. Yes, test scores provide a snapshot of student learning, but they are imperfect tools, and do not reflect the whole child and their abilities, talents, motivation, and promise. Student success is evident when a young person graduates from high school as a work-ready, career ready individual with strong academic and technical skills (if applicable) and social emotional skills that will help them to work as teams, problem-solve, self-advocate and contribute to their fullest potential. Student success is also evident when a graduate has been exposed to a broad array of post-secondary opportunities including those at university, the trades, on-the-job-training, and industry-recognized credentials. Student success is when a young person receives the help, they need to help them overcome mental, emotional challenges, trauma, and other challenges to live a life of happiness, purpose and meaning.

I have dedicated my life to improving outcomes for young people, especially those who have been least well-served by our educational system and have over thirty-four years’ experience in helping young people successfully navigate their journeys from K-12 into post-secondary education and career. My focus has been on helping students who face the most formidable barriers and challenges that would impede their ability to find success and helping them find career pathways that will help them succeed economically. I started in higher education and have worked at the College of Southern Nevada and Nevada State University (them College) where I focused on building programs like Upward Bound and GEAR UP whose purpose is to help low-income, first-generation students enter and succeed in college. My last higher education post was as Vice President of Multicultural Affairs at Nevada State.

I then transitioned into the nonprofit sector where I felt I could have a greater impact on helping students to succeed. I have spent more than 10 years as Executive Director of Jobs for Nevada’s Graduates. At JAG Nevada, we have helped over 20,000 historically underserved students to become successful, work-ready graduates.

If elected to the Board, how would you approach challenging conversations and/or criticisms that might arise from fellow Board members, stakeholders, and the broader community?

One of the greatest challenges in any organization (including the Nevada State Board of Education) is honest, open communication. It is important to approach the tough conversations that we inevitably engage in with honesty, openness, transparency, and a degree of vulnerability. I am a bottom-line person who does not appreciate or have hidden agendas, and it is important to have the tough conversations if we are to make progress on the work of making our education system better for our children. At the State Board, we often hear many competing voices advocating from various perspectives, but the voices that we hear least often are those of students and families. We need to hear and heed these voices much more in our work. Otherwise, special interests, administrative expediency and groupthink will detract us from being effective for Nevada students and families.

On the 2022 National Assessment of Education Progress (NAEP), fourth-grade students, in Nevada, scored 6 points lower in math and 7 points lower in reading when compared to Nevada’s 2019 results. With the release of the 2024 results coming in the next few months, what amount of improvement would indicate to you that student achievement is heading in the right direction? And, why?

Nevada has recently made historic investments in its K-12 education system, and it has created a new Pupil Centered Funding Plan. While these investments have not reached the level of optimal funding, they have been significant. Hence, it is my hope that we will see the downward slide bottom out and begin going upwards. Ideally, I would like to see the 2022 numbers in math and reading show a significant improvement–5% would demonstrate real progress. That would put us halfway to where we were before the pandemic.

In 2023, the U.S. Department of Education identified three key areas of importance for improving student achievement: addressing chronic absenteeism, providing high-dosage tutoring, and providing summer and expanded/after school learning programs. Do you agree? What guidance would you offer school districts to consider in implementation? How could the SBOE play a role in monitoring the impact of these areas?

I agree wholeheartedly that schools should follows the Department of Education’s recommendations to improve student achievement through tutoring, and summer/expanded learning programs. I have worked in this area for over thirty years and am fully aware of the impacts that these supplemental wraparound services have on student retention, attendance, and success. As the Executive Director for Jobs for Nevada’s Graduates, a nonprofit that targets Nevada’s most vulnerable youth to help them graduate and find careers, we have found it essential to incorporate tutoring into the JAG model. The tutoring we provide is embedded in our elective class, so that students need not come in before or after class to receive additional help. Requiring students to come before or after school is a deal-breaker for many students because of transportation, work, and family responsibilities. We have found that intensive tutoring helps students become credit proficient, increases attendance and gives students a newfound sense of self-esteem. Previously, I served a Director for Upward Bound in San Antonio, then wrote Upward Bound grants during my time at Nevada State University (then college). The Upward Bound program provides an intensive six-week summer program for low-income, first-generation students in 9th-12th grades. This intensive summer program not only improves attendance, but also helps students achieve at higher levels in school and inspires them to aspire to higher career goals. Many who had not considered themselves in college, enroll in college in higher numbers than their peers because of the types of support that they receive through these summer programs. In closing, I know that many students just need an extra little bit of care and help to succeed, and I would recommend that schools embrace these sorts of programs and work hard to partner and support nonprofit organizations that specialize in these services so that a public/private partnership is created to help students succeed at much higher rates.

A nationwide study conducted by TNTP found that students received a passing grade on 71% of their assignments–with more than half of those students receiving an A or B. However, only 17% of those same students demonstrated grade-level mastery on their assignments. How can Nevada schools make sure that the grades students receive in the classroom demonstrate grade-level mastery of the material? How can you support this change from the position you are seeking?

There is a case to be made for standards-based grading (SBG) to ensure that grades reflect the mastery of grade appropriate competencies. Moving to SBG would require the creation of new rubrics linked to standards, training, and oversight to ensure that it is implemented appropriately. This would take time and money. But the dividends of moving to SBG include improved student achievement and motivation. It would be advisable to proceed with caution in moving towards SBG, especially in media messaging, as the initial lower performance of students would make for negative headlines. Parental expectations would also have to be adjusted as many parents expect their children to bring home As and Bs. With SBG, the grading is more complex, and the element of grade inflation is removed. As a member of the Nevada State Board of Education, I would advocate for SBG to ensure that it may be adopted, communicated, and implemented for the highest benefits of students. The outcome that I would hope for is improved student achievement, and graduates who enter adulthood with the skills they need to succeed in post-secondary education, career, and life.