Schools plan is in search of backers

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Thursday, Jan. 25, 2007 | 7:02 a.m.

Two days after Gov. Jim Gibbons proposed spending $60 million for "empowerment schools," his staff began promoting it Wednesday in a flurry of hastily scheduled meetings.

One of the first stops was to seek the support of Nevada's top education official who, until Monday, had heard nothing about it.

Keith Rheault, Nevada's superintendent of public instruction, said he had scheduled a meeting with Gibbons' office several weeks ago to talk about issues related to K-12 governance. But instead, the discussion centered on Gibbons' empowerment plan, which calls for 100 Nevada campuses to operate more independently as a means of improving student achievement and teacher performance.

Rheault said he agreed to request from Gibbons' staff that he provide some guidance.

"I only have bits and pieces of what the plan would be at this point. I told them I couldn't say I was signing on yet," Rheault said. "I did tell them if they outlined some of the key concepts, I would help them fill in some of the holes they'll need to think about."

Rheault said he would have preferred being asked to help before Gibbons unveiled the idea at his State of the State address Monday.

Rheault and a number of the state's schools superintendents have expressed concern about the lack of information on the governor's proposal. Details have been limited to references to the public school system in Edmonton, Alberta, which pioneered the empowerment schools concept more than 20 years ago.

Gibbons' press secretary, Melissa Subbotin, defended the silence from the governor's office - even as superintendents and reporters sought elaboration.

"This plan is two days old - that's the fact of the matter," Subbotin said. "We have plans to meet with all the superintendents, north and south, and members of the school boards as well."

Some information was forthcoming Wednesday evening, when Canadian educator Michael Strembitsky, who spent more than two decades developing and running Edmonton Public Schools, spoke to about 30 lawmakers and educators in Carson City. The event was set up Tuesday.

Strembitsky has consulted with the Clark County School District on its empowerment schools pilot program, which is currently limited to four elementary schools. Maureen Peckman, executive director of the Council for a Better Nevada, an activist group of Las Vegas business leaders, introduced Strembitsky at Wednesday's event, and was responsible for bringing his work to the attention of Gibbons and his transition team.

"They thought this was an innovative and fresh idea for addressing a variety of educational needs," Subbotin said.

Gibbons attended some of the presentation.

"I'm actually here to learn like the rest of us," Gibbons told the audience. "I have a peripheral knowledge of the program. As we fill out the details I'm going to be a big cheerleader for the program."

Sun reporter J. Patrick Coolican contributed from Carson City to this report.