LOOKING IN ON: EDUCATION

Tuesday, Nov. 7, 2006 | 7:07 a.m.

Reading about civics in a textbook is one thing. Discussing civic responsibility, government authority, privacy and civil justice with classroom educators in an emerging democracy is something special.

Especially if you're a first, second, third or fourth grader.

That's what's on tap this week for students at Mackey Elementary School in North Las Vegas, thanks to a high-speed Internet line that will allow them to videoconference with educators in Bosnia. (Bosnian students are expected to participate in future online discussions.)

The Mackey students are participating in a pilot program called "Foundations of Democracy," authored by Center for Civic Education, a nonpartisan, not-for-profit American organization. The curriculum has also been provided to Bosnian schools.

Studying the cornerstones of a democratic society is an abstract classroom exercise to the Mackey students, but has significant, reality-based repercussions for the eastern European nation. If its newly elected leaders are judged successful at implementing reforms, the international administrator's office could hand over control.

Free elections are a key component to a democratic society, said Mackey teacher Brandon Moeller, who is coordinating the project. The videoconference is set for Thursday morning, two days after Mackey will have fittingly served as its neighborhood's election polling place.

Clark County School Board member Larry Mason won't have to stay up late tonight to see whether he gets to serve a third term. While three other School Board seats are up for election today, nobody ran against Mason.

Mason was the sole District D candidate in 1998, and faced only nominal opposition from one opponent in 2002. He was unopposed on the August primary ballot.

"He hasn't had a real race in my lifetime," Clark County School Board President Ruth Johnson joked.

Mason pointed out that when he first sought office in 1994, there were 16 names on the primary ballot. He won by a slim margin of victory, with 52 percent of the vote.

His easy re-elections since then are an "appreciation for what I do as a trustee," Mason said. "I'm grateful for the faith my constituents have in me."

Tucked into the agenda for each School Board meeting is a list of gifts made to schools by booster clubs, businesses and generous individuals. A typical entry might be $250 from the PTA for art supplies.

That's why one of the items in this week's list is enough to give pause - an anonymous gift of $20,000 for Palo Verde High School's football team.

"I've been coaching 23 years, and I've never seen anything like this," Darwin Rost, Palo Verde's football coach and athletic director, said of the anonymous gift.

Although the district provides each school with a budget for athletics, it's left up to the individual campuses to decide how much money is spent on each sport.

Palo Verde allocates $7,000 to football, which is typical of most of the district's high schools, Rost said. That budget hasn't changed since he came to Clark County in 1986.

What has changed is the cost of basic safety equipment. Shoulder pads that once went for $50 now cost three times as much, and helmets are $185, up from $85 in 1986. The anonymous gift will go a long way toward replacing worn-out equipment, Rost said.