LOOKING IN ON: EDUCATION:

Woman who owes department now on board

Judge has ordered Willa Chaney to pay $528,373; she denies any wrongdoing

Tiffany Brown / FILE

Willa Chaney was elected Tuesday to the state Board of Education, which governs the Nevada Education Department, which oversaw a program run by her company.

By Emily Richmond (contact)

Monday, Nov. 10, 2008 | 2 a.m.

Clark County School District

In August a District Court judge ordered Willa Chaney, now a newly elected member of the State Board of Education, to repay $528,373 to the Nevada Education Department.

A federal audit had found irregularities in her firm’s handling of a program to provide meals to needy children when school was out of session.

Chaney says the government began investigating Smart Start’s summer food program, which was shut down by the state in 1999, only after she complained about the state’s handling of the program. She has denied any wrongdoing.

Education Department officials say they have no plans to garnish Chaney’s pay, which totals $80 per meeting, with an average of 16 meetings per year.

She won the District 3 seat by a 2 percent margin over Doris Wallace Fletcher, a retired social worker.

Chaney told the Sun on Friday she had a meeting scheduled with her attorney to discuss a deal proposed by the state to resolve the matter.

Chaney said she will resign her position as president of Smart Start Daycare, which has a state-managed grant to provide early childhood programs, to avoid any appearance of impropriety or a conflict of interest.

•••

In previous elections, the teachers union relied on volunteer phone banks to spread the word on its endorsements. This time around, Executive Director John Jasonek invested in equipment that can make 75,000 “robo-calls” every 12 hours.

The union also formed strategy teams for each race, coordinating volunteers to hand out fliers and stand on street corners waving signs at motorists.

The race that received the most attention from the union was between teacher Ron Taylor and school volunteer Chris Garvey for the District B School Board seat. The union endorsed Garvey, who won by fewer than 900 votes of 90,098 cast.

Taylor has been locked for years in a bitter battle with the Clark County Education Association, alleging the teachers union improperly yanked his membership. Taylor also helped Teamsters Local 14 with its failed bid replace the union as the teachers’ representative at the bargaining table.

Taylor did not respond to requests for comment.

Garvey, who is a dental hygienist, said the union’s support was key to her victory.

“The community really respects teachers and their affiliations,” Garvey said. “The union’s endorsement is like a brand label. It really had an impact.”

•••

When it comes to bang for the buck among School Board candidates, Metro Police Officer John Schutt came out on top — even if he didn’t defeat incumbent Terri Janison for the District E School Board seat.

Schutt spent $906.42 on his campaign and pulled in 18,553 votes.

That was just under 30 percent of the total ballots cast in the race, but it worked out to about 5 cents per vote. By comparison Janison spent $28,965, or 62.5 cents per vote.

Of the four School Board races, retired principal Ronan Matthew appears to have spent the most for the fewest votes. As of Oct. 28 he had spent $28,834, leaving less than $1,000 in his war chest. That works out to about $2.25 for each of the 12,798 votes he received.

District administrator Linda Young spent $28,965, and had $16,802 left over as of Oct. 28. She received 24,879 votes, costing about $1.17 each.

The District B race was the tightest, but it also had the biggest gap in candidate spending. Garvey spent $44,304, just under a dollar per vote. As of last week, Taylor had spent $4,537, just over 10 cents per vote.

For the District A race, Edward Goldman outspent homemaker Deanna Wright nearly 8 to 1, spending nearly all of the $84,653 he reported in campaign contributions as of last week. His 39,728 votes cost $2.02 each, or $80,292. Wright finished with 49,958 votes, having spent $11,013, or about 22 cents per vote. She had over $20,000 remaining in campaign funds.

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

.com.

Discussion: 6 comments so far…

By CCSDTeacher

11/10/08 at 8:06 a.m.

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CCSD is doomed to continue on a path of destruction because of Wright and Garvey. Our children and their teachers will suffer untold damage because these two women know absolutely nothing about education and the school budget. Garvey has gone on record stating that she won't be able to attend board meetings because she works late on Thursdays, and she won't be able to chair any committee meetings for the same reason. Wright will have trouble understanding Parliamentary Procedure because she doesn't understand the English language. Her web site was filled with glaring mistakes in grammar and usage. Yes, she's the perfect person to be on the school board -- NOT. Our children will suffer because these two women don't understand education -- but have no fear they will be replacing Johnson and Scow who had little regard for children, teachers, and education.
By ZeddyBear

11/10/08 at 8:22 a.m.

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"The union endorsed Garvey, who won by fewer than 900 votes of 90,098 cast.

CCEA is not a union. It does not represent the vast majority of teachers in CCSD. In fact, CCEA represents less than 1,500 teachers out of 18,000 teachers now currently working in the county. CCEA's leaders did not want Taylor on the board. His election would mean that CCEA would have to be accountable to ALL teachers in this school district. So they backed a candidate who would NOT pressure them in being advocates for children, education, and teachers. Jasonek is the biggest reason our teachers are being mistreated in this school district. Ask him why he pulled the Teachers Bill of Rights from legislative review after every Assembly person in Carson City voted for it. He does NOT speak for every teacher, but he has bamboozled his way into destroying education in this school district.
By Sped_Teacher

11/10/08 at 8:42 a.m.

Comment removed by staff.
By GuestOfUKTLV

11/10/08 at 9:13 a.m.

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Ron Taylor may have lost the battle, but he won the war. He has done a great job of laying the foundation for improved teacher advocacy here in Las Vegas. He was the first teacher in CCSD willing to take a stand for taxpayers to try and ensure that money found its way into the classrooms and did not get lost in unneccessary jobs. He was the only candidate to give the rural area of Mesquite a voice and a unique plan that was tailor-made for their community. He was the only candidate that wanted to focus on extending the high school day and putting a large focus on truancy.

Ron Taylor took a stand against CCEA to try and put retired teachers back on the state health plan. He questioned the costs of the CTE Program and tried to track where all the money went to bring down fees for teachers.

Congratulations to Ron Taylor for running a campaign with honesty and integrity and standing up for kids.

Robin Vircsik
By ZeddyBear

11/10/08 at 4:21 p.m.

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"Congratulations to Ron Taylor for running a campaign with honesty and integrity and standing up for kids."

It's unfortunate that Chris Garvey did NOT do the same. Gary Gray muddied the waters. Hopefully Gray and his wife will leave town -- soon. She won't be running for a second term on the city council..... her days are numbered.
By Comments1

11/11/08 at 9:07 a.m.

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I am so dumb founded that not a single comment has been made on the Chaney piece above.

We just love so much being taken for out tax dollars that we just keep voting them in.