Improved authority in schools is proposed

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Tuesday, Jan. 10, 2006 | 7:45 a.m.

The Clark County School Board is interviewing six candidates for the position of district superindente, with a salary of at least $290,000. A final selection could be made as early as Thursday.

The candidates are:

*Robert Collins, 59, chief instructional officer of secondary education for the Los Angeles Unified School District.

*Peter Gorman, 41, superintendent of the Tustin Unified School District in California.

*Edward Lee Vargas, 54, superintendent of the Hacienda La Puente Unified School District in the City of Industry, Calif.

*Walt Rulffes, 65, interim superintendent of the Clark County School District.

*Bernard Taylor Jr., 46, superintendent of the Kansas City, Mo., School District.

*Eric Nadelstern, 55, chief academic officer for new schools and supervising superintendent of the "Autonomy Zone" of the New York City Education Department.

Collins, Gorman and Rulffes were interviewed Monday. Interviews for the remaining candidates will be broadcast live today on Cox cable channel 96. Seating is also available at KLVX Channel 10 studios, 4210 Channel 10 Drive. The School Board has allotted 90 minutes for each candidate:

8 a.m.: Edward Vargas

10:30 a.m.: Bernard Taylor

1:30 p.m.: Eric Nadelstern

The public also is welcome to meet the six candidates at public receptions Wednesday. Three candidates will be at each location for the morning session and will switch locations for the evening session.

Administrative Center, 5100 W. Sahara Ave.:

9 a.m.: Robert Collins

10:15 a.m.: Peter Gorman

11:30 a.m. Walt Rulffes

5 p.m.: Edward Vargas

6:15 p.m.: Bernard Taylor

7:30 p.m.: Eric Nadelstern

Curriculum and Professional Development Center, 2832 E. Flamingo Road:

9 a.m.: Edward Vargas

10:15 a.m.: Bernard Taylor

11:30 a.m.: Eric Nadelstern

5 p.m.: Robert Collins

6:15 p.m.: Peter Gorman

7:30 p.m.: Walt Rulffes

For more information about the superintendent search, including candidate biographies, go to www.ccsd.net.

To Eric Nadelstern, a veteran New York City educator and candidate for the position of Clark County schools superintendent, more authority for principals and teachers -- and less interference by central administrators -- yields accountability and academic success.

Of the six candidates being interviewed by the Clark County School Board this week, only Nadelstern emphasized decentralization as a central tenet of his educational philosophy in his written application. He also is the only semifinalist who was recruited to apply for the superintendent post by the Council for a Better Nevada, a coalition of local business leaders.

Currently chief academic officer for new schools in New York City, the nation's largest school district with more than 1 million students, Nadelstern also is supervising superintendent for the district's "Autonomy Zone," an experimental program in its second year.

Schools in the pilot program are allowed to choose curriculum and instructional methods, make budgetary decisions, determine daily schedules and hire staff. In exchange for those freedoms, principals and site staff are held directly responsible for student achievement.

In 1985 Nadelstern became the founding principal of International High School at LaGuardia Community College, a post he held for 17 years. Having taught English as a second language for 15 years, Nadelstern designed the school's program for students who had recently immigrated to the United States.

Nadelstern structured the school's schedule to include a weekly block for staff development. Students were taught in small discussion groups. A faculty committee was made responsible for hiring new personnel. Decisions were made by consensus.

According to documents provided by Nadelstern, the school's English Language Learner population has maintained rates of 90 percent or better for attendance, graduation and college acceptance, compared with the districtwide average of 45 percent.

In an interview with the Sun on Monday, Nadelstern said: "Parents don't send their kids to a district, they send their kids to a school. The goal shouldn't be how do you create a successful district, but how you create a successful school."

The key, Nadelstern said, is to allow "as much decision-making and autonomy at the school level as possible."

"Then those principals can be held accountable to high levels of student performance," he said.

When asked whether decentralization could work without breaking up the Clark County School District, Nadelstern said: "Deconsolidation is a separate question." He added that he would have to further examine the district's existing structure of five geographic regions before deciding whether change would be needed.

Maureen Peckman, director of the Council for a Better Nevada, said Nadelstern was recommended to her group by several sources, including Bill Ouchi, a professor of management at UCLA.

Ouchi, who serves as the council's education consultant is a proponent of decentralization and weighted student formulas, which provides schools with additional funds to educate pupils with special needs.

"Eric brings extraordinary experience and innovation to a highly centralized bureaucratic institution that just needs a fresh approach," Peckman said.

Nadelstern will be interviewed by the School Board today at 1:30 p.m. The interview will be at KLVX Channel 10 studios and broadcast live on Cox cable channel 96. He will be preceded by Bernard Taylor at 10:30 a.m. and Edward Lee Vargas at 8 a.m. Each interview lasts 90 minutes.

Emily Richmond can be reached at 259-8829 or at emily@lasvegassun.com.