California educator offered state job

Monday, Dec. 11, 2000 | 11:21 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- A California educator described as "dynamic" with "progressive ideas" has been selected for the $94,000-a-year job of state superintendent of public instruction, succeeding Mary Peterson, who is retiring at the end of the month.

The state Board of Education voted 8-3 for Jack McLaughlin, 59, who has been superintendent of the 10,000-student school district in Berkeley, Calif., since 1994.

Board member Doris Femenella of Las Vegas said McLaughlin would "bring life to Nevada."

"That's what we need at this time. He has the interest of students," she added. "The legislators we are dealing with are younger, and the old guard is moving out. It's time for a change."

"He knows the current trends," board member Priscilla Rocha, also of Las Vegas, said. "We don't need to light a firecracker under him. He understands bilingual education."

McLaughlin would be in charge of the state Department of Education, which has 111 employees. The department oversees many of the programs conducted by local school districts.

McLaughlin was chosen from four finalists from among the 21 applicants for the job. The board named Joseph Lutjeharms, a former commissioner of education in Nebraska, as a second choice if McLaughlin doesn't take the post.

The other finalists were Skip Wenda, administrator of the southern office of the state Department of Education in charge of teacher licensing, and Richard LaPoint, former superintendent of public instruction in Virginia.

Wenda received support from board member Frank Mathews of Las Vegas, who said, "He knows what is going on in the state. With him we will be off and running. Wenda has the characteristics we need."

Board member Merv Iverson of Las Vegas agreed, but noted Wenda's talents won't be wasted.

"He's done a good job down there. But he would serve the state better there for the time being," Iverson said.

Others said Wenda needed more experience before he was ready for the top job. Board member Peggy Bowen of Sparks, said Wenda still "has a learning curve. But he's definitely a contender in the future."

Lutjeharms was nominated first for the job but received only four votes from the 11-member board. Then the board voted for McLaughlin, with Mathews, John Gascue of Reno and board president David Sheffield of Elko dissenting.

Five of the present board members will be leaving in January.

McLaughlin served seven years as superintendent of the Hemet school district in California and was superintendent in Sunnyvale for 13 years.

Gascue said McLaughlin is a "progressive individual, but he has not served at the state level." He said the Berkeley school district has less than 10,000 students with one high school and three junior high schools. He favored Lutjeharms, who had served as head of Nebraska's education system under five governors.

But others noted that Lutjeharms has been retired for five years and is now a consultant.

"I wonder how long he would take to get back, Femenella said. "He would be learning all over again. I'm afraid he would be playing catch-up. We don't need that."