LOOKING IN ON: EDUCATION

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Tuesday, July 10, 2007 | 6:57 a.m.

To help the Clark County School District alleviate its teacher shortage last year, consultant Maggie Arias-Petrel offered to organize a recruiting trip to Mexico.

Arias-Petrel, a Latin Chamber of Commerce director, knew that hundreds of teachers from Mexico had been recruited for Houston's public schools. So she requested a meeting with Lina Gutierrez, the Clark County School District's executive director of licensed personnel, to discuss a similar outreach.

"Lina did not even want to hear it," Arias-Petrel said. "She was very set on going to Spain."

At the time of Gutierrez's rejection, Arias-Petrel wondered why Mexico wasn't being given more serious consideration, given that many of the district's English-language learners would probably relate better to teachers from that country than from Spain.

"It didn't seem like a decision in the best interest of the School District or the kids," she said.

The Sun reported Monday that Gutierrez planned a March trip to Madrid, Spain, for herself and two other district administrators, booking one-way business-class seats at a cost of nearly $18,000. Superintendent Walt Rulffes cancel ed the trip after he questioned the cost and the value of sending Gutierrez, who was due to retire immediately on her return from Spain.

Gutierrez could not be reached for comment.

Arias-Petrel found Nevada's higher education system more receptive to offers of assistance.

In December, Nevada State College announced it would partner with a Mexican university and the Latin Chamber of Commerce. Teaching and nursing students are taking Spanish-language immersion classes and volunteering in local schools and health clinics as part of a service-learning project.

A generous Las Vegas Sun reader has promised $10,000 to support a new emergency communications system at Vegas PBS, formerly known as KLVX Channel 10.

The pledge came after the Sun's report that the public television station had been designated by the U.S. Homeland Security Department to operate the system, which is activated by the federal government in times of national disaster or crisis.

The $10,000 donation is particularly welcome given that Vegas PBS is short about $5 million in its $61 million capital campaign.

Vegas PBS will break ground Monday for its $71 million technology campus.

The Clark County School District, which holds the operating license for the independent station, will situate its distance learning center at the campus, which will also be home to Vegas PBS studios and offices and Nevada's homeland security operations.

The three-story campus will be fitted with solar panels provided by Nevada Power and tap geothermal wells for heat.

A new state law is requiring Clark County School Board members to approve sizable raises for themselves.

Senate Bill 328 mandated that board members in smaller, rural school districts be paid $250 per month and those in Clark and Washoe counties be paid $750 per month. Before the bill's passage, board members in all districts received $80 per meeting, which in Clark County amounted to $160 to $320 monthly.

The shift to a monthly stipend reflects the reality that School Board members often put in long hours outside of their public meeting schedule. The 2007 Legislature did not provide funding for the raises, which take effect Jan. 1, 2009.

Board members will have the option of donating some of their salary back to their district.

The pay hike is "long overdue and doesn't begin to compensate for the time and effort they are required to commit," said Assemblyman Richard "Tick" Segerblom, who advocated the legislation. "I view their jobs as at least as important as the County Commission, and they receive nearly 10 times as much even with the new raise."