Board to visit Nadelstern’s New York

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Wednesday, Jan. 18, 2006 | 7:54 a.m.

Clark County School Board members flying to New York this week to evaluate superintendent candidate Eric Nadelstern scurried Tuesday to find ways to depart from the guided tour they asked him to arrange.

School Board President Ruth Johnson and member Sheila Moulton -- perhaps the strongest opponents to Nadelstern's candidacy -- planned to go to New York today to visit the New York City district for the remainder of the week. Three more members will go to New York early next week.

"Obviously Mr. Nadelstern is going to want to show us the best of everything, but we've told him we want to see all sides," Moulton said. "But I've made some calls to some people I know in the education community back there, and I'll be looking around on my own."

The School Board has narrowed its field of candidates to Nadelstern and Walt Rulffes, Clark County's interim superintendent. While their five School Board colleagues travel east, Susan Brager-Wellman and Shirley Barber planned to take a closer look at Rulffes' employment history in Clark County, where he has been since 1998, and his earlier tenure in Spokane, Wash.

Nadelstern is chief academic officer for new schools in New York City, home to the nation's largest school district, with 1.1 million students. He is also superintendent of the district's "Autonomy Zone," a pilot program that grants more authority to principals and teachers at individual campuses.

Nadelstern said Monday that he was looking forward to providing a first-hand look at the program he helped establish and now oversees.

"I'm grateful for the opportunity," he said.

The School Board voted unanimously Tuesday to conduct the site visits. Before the meeting, however, four members -- Larry Mason, Brager-Wellman, Moulton and Terri Janison -- said they were prepared to cast their final votes.

But discussion soon revealed that the three other members wanted more information. Given the board's desire to make its choice unanimous, members agreed to make the site visits.

Mason, who will visit New York City next week with Janison and Mary Beth Scow, said he's also planning his own itinerary.

"I've asked to meet with people from the business communities, the bargaining groups," Mason said. "I'm also going to stop by the barber shops and the local cafes -- ask all the questions everybody should be asking."

Those questions include whether Nadelstern has the experience and skills to shepherd the Clark County School District, which with 292,000 students is more than 10 times the size of the "Autonomy Zone."

Moulton indicated Monday she continued to lean toward choosing Rulffes.

The district has just received $54 million in state funds for school improvements, Moulton noted.

"We have 18 months to prove ourselves to the legislators," Moulton said. "Is this really the best time to bring in someone who will have a steeper learning curve?"

As for Nadelstern's objectives -- which include smaller schools and more autonomy for staff -- many of the elements are already taking place in Clark County, Moulton said.

She also said that initiatives such as expanded full-day kindergarten programs and a new computerized database for tracking student performance already are showing results. Those initiatives were launched by Carlos Garcia, who stepped down as superintendent in July.

"Carlos Garcia was an agent of change. People may not want to believe it right now, but he really was," Moulton said.

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