Senate considers appointing board of education

Jennifer Coleman

Tuesday, April 27, 1999 | 9:20 a.m.

CARSON CITY - A bill to turn the elective Nevada Board of Education into an appointive panel has been denounced by critics who say it reduces public accountability.

Board members, school administrators and teachers opposed SB466, telling the Senate Finance Committee on Monday that the current 11-member elective board should be retained.

The proposal for a 9-member appointed board, named by the governor and the Legislature, came from an interim study group that followed up on 1997 education reform by producing several follow-up proposals.

"This is nothing more than a power grab," protested Board of Education member Bill Hanlon of Las Vegas.

"Who are appointed officials accountable to?" added another panel member, David Cook of Carson City.

"Under this plan, the governor appoints a majority of the board and it's likely the governor's wishes will rule," said Hank Etchemendy of the Nevada Association of School Boards.

State schools chief Mary Peterson, the Nevada PTA, Nevada State Education Association, Nevada Eagle Forum and Nevada Concerned Citizens also opposed changing the board to one appointed by elected officials.

Peterson said public schools have made great strides since 1997 reforms were enacted. Since then, she said the number of Nevada public schools that have been rated as inadequate has dropped from 23 to eight.

Proponents of the measure included an Elko County School District delegation in support of doing away with the state Board of Education completely. Elko County schools chief Marcia Bandera said the board is obsolete and much of its work has been taken over by other panels.

And while he insisted he wasn't taking a stand on the proposal, Senate Finance Chairman Bill Raggio, R-Reno, said 35 other states have boards that are appointed rather than elected.

Raggio also said SB466 contains many provisions discussed over the past 18 months by an interim study panel.

The bill proposes to have the governor appoint five members, three from southern Nevada, one from the north and one from rural Nevada. Senate and Assembly leaders would each pick two members of the new board.

In addition to the change in the state board, SB466 would revise the makeup of a teacher licensing board and create regional teacher training centers.

The nearly $12 million bill would also provide incentives for educators to get continuing education to stay current in subjects they are teaching. And schools could use class-size reduction money on other programs designed to improve student achievement.