Education panel to take show on road

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Tuesday, Jan. 6, 2004 | 11 a.m.

The Legislative Committee on Education meets Wednesday, but don't go looking for it at the Sawyer State Office Building in Las Vegas or the Legislative Building in Carson City.

Instead the committee will meet at 9:30 a.m. Wednesday at Foothill High School -- part of a plan by Chairman and Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins, D-Henderson, to make it easier for the community at large to participate.

"I plan on taking the committee to as many places throughout the state as we can," Perkins said Monday. "It may not be as convenient for (lawmakers) but it's time to make it convenient to the teachers, the students and the parents."

All legislative interim committee meetings typically rotate between the north and south. It is unusual for locales outside of the government buildings to be used.

The decision on where to hold meetings is left up to the chairman and no vote is required, said Carol Stonefield, senior research analyst for the education committee.

Typically other members have an opportunity to voice their opinions when the schedule for future meetings is set, which is what is expected to happen Wednesday.

Because Foothill does not have the video-conferencing capabilities of the Sawyer State Office Building, people in the northern part of the state will have to come to Henderson, said Keith Rheault, deputy superintendent of instruction for the Nevada Education Department, which is based in Carson City.

Rheault said he was "a little bit leery" of Perkins' plan to move the meetings to various locations because of the additional travel costs for department staff who need to testify.

"Hopefully we'll have enough notice for future meetings to get cheaper plane fares," said Rheault, who learned last week the committee would be meeting at the Henderson high school. "This is an important committee and we'll go wherever they tell us to go."

Rotating the meeting locations will have another benefit -- raising the profile of Perkins, who has indicated he is considering a run for governor in 2006.

"One can't help the cynical observation," said Eric Herzik, professor of political science at the University of Nevada, Reno. "If (Perkins) wants to run as the education candidate in two years this certainly won't hurt."

Campaign tactics aside, Herzik, interim dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, said he favored the idea of moving the meetings.

"There's something to be said for going directly to the people," Herzik said. "The lack of the video-conferencing may mean less people participating but you will get more intense input from those who do attend. You're going to have people come with issues and concerns specific to that region, not just people who know how to get to the Sawyer Building or the Legislative Building."

Assemblyman Jason Geddes, R-Reno and a member of the education committee, said he was in favor of rotating the meeting locations even though it will likely mean additional planning and travel time for him.

"We're going to get a better range of input," Geddes said this morning. "There are people who may be a little bit intimidated by the settings of the government buildings but they will come out when we go to their local school."

Another member of the education committee, State Sen. Bernice Mathews, D-Reno, said she admired Perkins' plan to rotate meeting locations but suggested future sites have the capability to be broadcast to the rest of the state. Mathews said she had planned to participate in Wednesday's meeting via video conference "to save a little money" but now plans to fly down to Las Vegas.

Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno and the education committee's vice chair, said he supported moving the meeting locations.

"It's a good thing for the committees to see some of the areas and the schools in those areas," Raggio said. "It's also nice for those communities who don't see legislators that much."

Raggio said he may be unable to attend Wednesday's meeting because his wife, Dale, recently had foot surgery and he doesn't want to leave her alone.

At Wednesday's meeting the committee is scheduled to hear testimony from teachers, parents, students and staff of Clark County School District about the federal No Child Left Behind Act, signed into law two years ago this week. Foothill, along with 130 other Clark County campuses, has been put on the state's "watch list" for failing to show the "adequate yearly progress" on test scores demanded by the federal law. Superintendent Carlos Garcia is also slated to speak.

More students and staff will be able to take part in the hearing because of the new location, said Joyce Haldeman, executive director of community and government relations for the school district.

"(Perkins') goal is to take the pulse of the community," Haldeman said. "All of our legislators have a lot of questions about No Child Left Behind. By going out to the different districts they will find out faster what's good and what needs to be tweaked. That can only help our students in the long run."