Education secretary to visit LV schools

Monday, Aug. 10, 1998 | 10:52 a.m.

WASHINGTON -- U.S. Secretary of Education Richard Riley will visit Las Vegas Aug. 25 to meet with business leaders on how they can help improve the education system.

Riley will speak at a breakfast, hosted by the Las Vegas Sun, on his Partnership for Family Involvement in Education. He believes that employers can play an important role in improving schools by enabling employee participation in students' academic success and implementing programs and partnerships with schools.

Riley, invited to Las Vegas by Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., also will visit a school construction site and a year-round school.

"Las Vegas is the very epicenter of this nation's explosive growth in student enrollment," Riley said. "Business, community leaders and all caring adults can focus attention on schools and reinforce the importance of education to all students."

Reid, who is battling Rep. John Ensign, R-Nev., to keep his Senate seat, said Riley's visit is important because it gives the secretary the opportunity to witness first-hand the overcrowding in Southern Nevada schools.

With Riley's support, Nevada may receive increased education funding in the future, Reid said.