Education interests form coalition to address Legislature

Thursday, Feb. 4, 1999 | 11:54 a.m.

Known as the Education Coalition, the group hopes to present a united front during the 120-day legislative session. The group hopes joining together will save time and increase the impact of its message on key issues.

Ken Lange, executive director of the Nevada State Education Association, says it's the first time the various groups have focused on a common agenda.

"We went through a process where we used a facilitator to find issues on which we could all agree," Lange said.

The process boiled down the group's priorities to three. The coalition will focus on school funding, increased resources and opportunities for staff and teacher training, and school governance issues.

"We want to reaffirm the authority of elected school boards," Lange said of the governance issue. "A whole lot of policy decisions have been drawn into the legislative arena. We want to talk about local control."

The coalition membership represents major state organizations involved in public education, including: the state Board of Education; the state Department of Education; the Nevada Association of School Administrators; the Nevada Association of School Boards; the Nevada State Education Association; the Nevada Association of School Superintendents; the Nevada Association of School Psychologists; the Nevada Classified School Employees Association; the Nevada School Counselors Association; the Nevada Parent Teacher Association; the Nevada Vocational Association; the Rural Alliance; and the Nevada Association of Federal Program Administrators.

State Superintendent Mary Peterson said the effort will save everyone time. Instead of hearing 13 groups who want to say the same thing about a bill draft, state lawmakers can expect one speaker summing up the coalition concerns and opinions.