Programs such as AVID, which steers students toward more challenging curriculum while providing intensive tutoring and mentoring, are one way to address that gap. Nationally, 95 percent of AVID studen

clittle@lasvegassun.com

Sunday, June 25, 2006 | 8:05 a.m.

But the cost of the program - about $60,000 for every section of 30 students - has limited the district to offering it in just 18 of 35 high schools.

"We need AVID in every middle school and high school we have," Rulffes says. "If we had the money, we would have done it already."

And he and Rogers plan to present a united front to state lawmakers next spring in a search for dollars to build their bridge. For example, Rogers will support Rulffes' push for all-day kindergarten, and Rulffes will back the Nevada System of Higher Education's requests to improve student services.

Rogers wants education to get every dime of extra state revenue available in this biennium.

Keith Rheault, state superintendent of public instruction, says everyone benefits when K-12 and higher education work as allies rather than enemies. Ultimately, however, "we're both competing for the same dollars, and the pot of money is only so big," he says. "They have needs, and we have needs - I've never seen it where the Legislature's funded everybody's needs."

Rulffes and Rogers appear willing to engage in some creative bartering, a technique that might serve them well when the Legislature resumes in February.

Nevada State College has 550 acres on the outskirts of Henderson, with plenty of room for the K-8 school the district would like to build. In exchange for the land, the district would use bond funds to build a 120,000-square-foot College of Education, increasing the number of classroom seats for future teachers.

Professors would serve as a resource to the K-8 school next door, and college students would be able to do their student teaching on-campus.

Rogers is forging ties with Washoe County as well, and will give his State of the System speech twice in November - once in conjunction with Rulffes and again with Washoe County Schools Superintendent Paul Dugan.

The chancellor isn't the only higher education official reaching out to K-12.

The Board of Regents recently expanded its statewide P-16 Council, adding several community and business leaders from Reno and Las Vegas. At the council's urging, the state Education Department, higher education system and state Department of Employment, Training and Rehabilitation agreed to share data and better track what happens to the state's students after high school.

The bridge-building efforts of Rulffes and Rogers are also winning applause from some of the state's toughest critics of public education.

"We've been preaching this for so long, and I am so glad they are doing this," says Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas. "Hallelujah and congratulations to these two gentlemen for coming to the conclusion that this needs to be done."

Emily Richmond can be reached at 259-8829 or at emily@lasvegassun.com. Christina Littlefield can be reached at 259-8813 or at clittle@lasvegassun.com.A meeting of the minds on preparation for college