Anthony Ramirez

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Higher ed contemplates fallout of financial exigency: Thursday, March 10, 2011; It’s more in anger than in sorrow when Victor Katz reflects on how the university where he taught for nearly four decades essentially went bankrupt. Yes, the University of the District of Columbia somehow carried on despite the dismissal of a third of its faculty in 1997, he said. “But I don’t think you can call it surviving,” said Katz, 68, a mathematics professor who retired five years ago.
Economist is no fan of state’s cash grab: Saturday, March 5, 2011; John Cole, the newest member of the Clark County School Board, knows finance and the art of debt. His knowledge of bonds is coming in handy. He also knows about a bad economy; he has a master’s in business administration from Eastern Illinois University.
Hundreds urge lawmakers to battle proposed cuts to education: Monday, Feb. 28, 2011; It was a standing-room only, largely partisan crowd Monday night at Green Valley High School that urged state lawmakers to fight budget cuts in education proposed by Gov. Brian Sandoval.
Chancellor's memo outlines scenarios involving closures, consolidations: Friday, Feb. 25, 2011; In a sweeping memorandum on budget cuts dated Feb. 19, the chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education asked college presidents to plan for enormous budget cuts.
UNLV professor’s proposal to close 5 Nevada campuses is met with skepticism: Friday, Feb. 25, 2011; The plan proposed by a UNLV professor is simple.
Still, it has vast implications for more than 114,000 students, 7,000 professors and other employees at nine colleges and universities in Nevada.
UNLV campus arena gets thumbs-up from Vegas scion: Monday, Feb. 21, 2011; Thomas A. Thomas, a member of one of the valley’s founding families, was present at the creation of modern Las Vegas. So his endorsement of a proposal to build a sports arena at UNLV carried special weight.
Clark County School Board hears the grim budget details it confronts: Friday, Feb. 18, 2011; This has all the makings of fiscal chaos: Before the Clark County School District knows how much money it’ll have for the next two years, it will have to do several other things first.
School Board critical of Sandoval plan to use $300 million for state budget: Board president says plan 'tantamount to a tax increase'; Thursday, Feb. 17, 2011; The Clark County School Board harshly criticized this morning a plan by Gov. Brian Sandoval to use $300 million in Clark County school construction bond money to help balance the state budget.
UNLV president’s somber warning on budget cuts moves faculty to tears: Wednesday, Feb. 16, 2011; In what must have been one of his most painful tasks in office, UNLV President Neal Smatresk warned faculty leaders to prepare for a budget catastrophe — news that left some in tears.
UNLV president plans for 'state of fiscal collapse': Tuesday, Feb. 15, 2011; UNLV President Neal Smatresk told a somber Faculty Senate on Tuesday that the administration was planning a kind of bankruptcy to deal with its budget crunch. Under the "financial exigency" plan, tenured professors could be fired and whole departments and programs more easily closed down.
At time of budget cuts, school nurses see more than skinned knees: More children are coming to class with medical needs that require monitoring, treatment; Saturday, Feb. 12, 2011; In a big room with a kitchen at J. Harold Brinley Middle School, a girl in a wheelchair pushed by her mother waits to be fed through a plastic tube.
Anger taints regents’ vote on proposed UNLV stadium: Saturday, Feb. 12, 2011; Scrum!
Two university regents and a lawyer for a rival developer locked arms Friday and tried to stop a fast-moving proposal by two prominent real estate developers to build an arena on the UNLV campus.
The opponents failed. For now.
Regent says it’s time that K-12 shares in budget sacriﬁce: Tuesday, Feb. 8, 2011; Last August, when he excoriated the university system’s Board of Regents for refusing to cut spending by 10 percent, as then-Gov. Jim Gibbons had asked, Regent Ron Knecht was blunt.
District schools excel at technology, amplifying the student experience: Monday, Feb. 7, 2011; It’s a sunny morning in the 21st century. There are no cities in the sky, no flying cars, no Rosie the Robot Maid. On the other hand, there is Jaime Esparza.
Higher education officials say Sandoval budget cuts a 'death sentence': Friday, Feb. 4, 2011; Using terms such as “doomsday” and “death sentence” to describe the impact of Gov. Brian Sandoval’s budget on higher education, the Board of Regents voted 13-0 Thursday to oppose the proposal.
Regents to hear UNLV arena plan for football, basketball: Monday, Jan. 31, 2011; The surprise proposal to build a sports arena to replace the Thomas & Mack Center would burnish UNLV’s image, galvanize the sports programs and provide the campus with a source of nontaxpayer dollars, officials say.
Teachers not pleased with most of Sandoval’s speech: Tuesday, Jan. 25, 2011; Grim, with arms crossed, the 80 teachers and education personnel watching Gov. Brian Sandoval’s budget address Monday night weren’t expecting good news.
To protect schools, chief ready to plead case with Legislature: Saturday, Jan. 22, 2011; Although he is still learning the ropes, Clark County’s new school superintendent must negotiate a contract with the teachers union and others, plead with Gov. Brian Sandoval to not gut schools in the upcoming state budget and lobby the Legislature to override the governor if he does.
Governor’s adviser weighs in on ﬁxes for education system: Friday, Jan. 21, 2011; One of Gov. Brian Sandoval’s closest advisers says Nevada’s education system must be fixed. Nevada has “a confused and bureaucratic system that is not serving students, parents, teachers or administrators well,” said Pete Ernaut.
Lawmakers tour schools that could face deep budget cuts: Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011; Being ferried, appropriately, in a big yellow school bus, a group of Nevada assemblymen went on a politically timely field trip Friday, visiting the very campuses that may be hit hard in upcoming state budget deliberations.
Larry Mason reflects on his tenure on School Board: Longtime School Board member saw district double in size; Saturday, Jan. 15, 2011; One of the best days of his life, Larry Mason says, was his first day on the Clark County School Board. he first Hispanic board member, Mason was twice elected board president, saw enrollment double to 300,000 students and oversaw the rise of the district’s budget to $2 billion.
Schools superintendent seeks $1 million in private funds for budget study: Thursday, Jan. 13, 2011; Dwight Jones, the new Clark County schools superintendent, said Thursday that he will seek up to $1 million in private funding for a rigorous analysis of the School District’s $2 billion budget.
District ranks first for IT services: Monday, Jan. 10, 2011; The bad news about Clark County schools is familiar: bottom-of-the-heap achievement in mathematics, reading and graduation.
Carolyn Edwards elected School Board president: Wednesday, Jan. 5, 2011; Carolyn Edwards was elected president of the Clark County School Board this morning, which serves the fifth-largest school district in the country.
UNLV gives undergraduates wings: Student on NASA team working on solar-powered flight; Saturday, Dec. 11, 2010; One of the chasms in life separates high school freshman and seniors. And then there’s the one separating college undergraduates, who study, and graduate students, who research. Now, a growing number of colleges allow undergraduates to cross the chasm.
School officials told to brace for cuts in excess of 10 percent: Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010; Clark County school officials who met with Gov.-elect Brian Sandoval this week to discuss the budget described the tone as gloomy and were told to brace for cuts in excess of 10 percent. Superintendent Walt Rulffes said Tuesday’s meeting was profoundly pessimistic.
Schools confront obvious and obscure budget cuts: Thursday, Dec. 9, 2010; As a new governor and Legislature prepare to deal with a $2 billion-plus budget deficit in February, the Clark County School District needs to focus on two questions — one obvious, the second obscure:
Terri Janison reflects on lessons learned on School Board: Panel’s president recently named to a post in the Sandoval administration; Saturday, Dec. 4, 2010; Terri Janison, head of the Clark County School Board, sat beside Dwight Jones when she introduced the new school superintendent at his first news conference last month.
Further education cuts spur fear of lawsuits: Adequately funding schools could become constitutional issue; Tuesday, Nov. 23, 2010; The arguments against more cuts in education are blunt: The schools are in bad enough shape. Children are our future. It would be irresponsible. To that list, Mo Denis would add one word: litigation.
'Ouch' — School District grappling with $180 million deficit: Friday, Nov. 19, 2010; The pain expressed by Sheila Moulton, a Clark County School Board member, followed the surprise revelation of a projected $180 million deficit in the coming school year. That’s 9 percent of the district’s $2 billion budget.
Fresh blood for difficult times: New School Board members see budget as biggest challenge; Friday, Nov. 19, 2010; Newly elected School Board members Erin Cranor and Lorraine Alderman are walking into what may be the most wrenching year ever faced by the Clark County School District. And they approach their jobs from different backgrounds but a shared perspective. Alderman knows the district from the inside out based on a quarter-century as a schoolteacher, principal and administrator. Cranor has served the district on the outside looking in, having led a parent committee overseeing the ever-changing school boundaries.
School District faces $180 million budget shortfall: Wednesday, Nov. 17, 2010; The Clark County School Board received a jolt Wednesday night — a report of a $180 million shortfall in the fiscal 2012 budget. “Ouch,” one board member murmured. The Clark County School District budget for fiscal 2012 is expected to be about $2 billion.
Health insurance cuts causing uproar among UNLV faculty, staff: Saturday, Nov. 6, 2010; Bryan Spangelo knows a thing or two about figuring out things. After all, he has taught biochemistry at UNLV for 16 years and is a senior professor.
New superintendent says administration should be held accountable: Thursday, Nov. 4, 2010; Dwight Jones, the incoming Clark County school superintendent, said in his first formal press conference that the main message parents need to take away from his administration is that "they ought to hold us accountable and that their kids are going to be Job One."
Doubrava wins Regents seat; few other surprises in education board elections: Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2010; There were few surprises in voting for board members of the two most important educational institutions in the state — Clark County’s public schools and the state’s public university system.
Teachers union angling for leftover federal money: But with looming deficit, district — or state — could call dibs new superintendent will have to address matter when he arrives; Tuesday, Nov. 2, 2010; When Congress approved $10 billion in aid for states to save or create education jobs, about $54 million went to the Clark County School District. Now it turns out $20 million may go unspent.
Time, budget cuts taking a toll on Clark County schools: Budget cuts eat away at district’s maintenance budget, which means buildings are getting the TLC they need; Tuesday, Oct. 26, 2010; Building the Golden Gate Bridge was a breathtaking accomplishment, but keeping it painted, clean and crack-free are all important, too, if ho-hum.
For Rancho High students, a real-life lesson in politics in Angle exchange: Wednesday, Oct. 20, 2010; Whatever happened in Room 513 was, by any standard, one heckuva civics lesson. The exchange Friday between Sharron Angle and about 130 largely Hispanic students in the standing-room-only room was, by turns, surprising, evasive and enraging, according to students who were there.
Nevada State College: Yet to be victim of budget ax?: Monday, Oct. 18, 2010; On the administration building of Nevada State College, the youngest and smallest college in the university system, is a big clock. On a recent morning, it read 10:25 a.m. Except, it was 11:30. Things are a little off.
Schoolteacher has sights set on Governor's Mansion: Schoolteacher Aaron Honig thinks he has a chance of occupying the Governor’s Mansion — not too many share his confidence; Saturday, Oct. 16, 2010; This is how low key and underfunded Aaron Honig’s campaign is to be Nevada’s next governor — his boss didn’t know he was running until last week. The elementary schoolteacher got only 12 valid signatures more than the 250 he needed to get on the ballot. His $2,000 campaign war chest? He charged most of it on his Visa and MasterCard. His volunteer staff is made up mainly of his wife, Heather, and his father, Aryeh.
School Board approves contract for new superintendent: Thursday, Oct. 14, 2010; After sharp debate, the Clark County School Board approved an employment agreement for Dwight Jones, who has been offered the job of schools superintendent. The board Thursday night OK’d the agreement 6-1, with board member Larry Mason dissenting.
Schools serving large numbers of homeless youth: Friday, Oct. 8, 2010; For most students, school can be a bore, a spur to academic achievement or simply a place to hang out with pals. But for homeless students, especially teenagers known as “couch surfers,” it is something else.
Nevada State College acting president to lobby Legislature: Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010; In a vigorous defense of beleaguered Nevada State College, Lesley DiMare, the new acting president, said this morning that she, along with student representatives, would personally lobby the state Legislature next February against crippling budget cuts.
Candidates square off in hotly contested regent race: Wednesday, Oct. 6, 2010; Unlike some states, the Board of Regents for Nevada’s university system is elected, not appointed. The races are usually low-heat, nonhanging-chad affairs. But not this year, not in District 7, in the heart of Clark County and with a volatile group of retired voters who don’t have school-age children. In the May primary, a classroom’s worth of votes — only 34 out of 18,238 cast in a four-person race — separated Ray Rawson, the incumbent who finished second, from previously unknown Mark Doubrava.
Superintendent pick says to teachers: Don't fear me: Saturday, Oct. 2, 2010; Dwight Jones, who has been offered the job of school superintendent, said the teachers union in the Clark County School District has nothing to fear from a tough teacher-effectiveness law passed recently in Jones’ home state.
Some teachers must decide between paycut, return to retirement: Thursday, Sept. 30, 2010; Benjamin Franklin put it this way: “For want of a nail, the shoe was lost; for want of a shoe, the horse was lost; and for want of a horse, the rider was lost, being overtaken and slain by the enemy, all for want of care about a horseshoe nail.”
Colorado's Dwight Jones offered job as Clark County schools superintendent: Wednesday, Sept. 29, 2010; The Clark County School Board voted 6-1 tonight to offer the job of schools superintendent to Dwight Jones, the commissioner of education in Colorado.
Education on the mind of MGM Resorts chief Jim Murren: Tuesday, Sept. 28, 2010; On the Strip, that length of Las Vegas that is part Blade Runner and all Disneyland, there is someone who is neither.
Finalists for schools chief form a study in contrasts: Selection process quickens on possibility candidate may drop out; Friday, Sept. 24, 2010; If the members of the Clark County School Board, which is looking for a new superintendent, wanted a sharp contrast between the two finalists for the job, they got it during interviews Thursday.
School District to select new superintendent Wednesday: Thursday, Sept. 23, 2010; The Clark County School Board voted today to decide next Wednesday on a new school superintendent.