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Education task force says meetings will follow Nevada law and be open
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LAS VEGAS REVIEW-JOURNAL CAPITAL BUREAU
CARSON CITY -- After initial balking, leaders of the governor's Blue Ribbon Education Reform Task Force agreed Wednesday to follow the state's open meeting law.
Co-chair Dan Klaich said he and co-chair Elaine Wynn decided that all meetings of the 28-member task force will be conducted according to the law.
As chancellor of the Nevada System of Higher Education, Klaich said he is familiar with the open meeting law requirements, but for people in private industry such as Wynn, a casino executive, the open meeting law "is as foreign as it can be."
Klaich said he has agreed to police the task force meetings and make sure the law is followed.
"We are going to have agendas, post them, allow public comments at the meeting, compile minutes and record everything," Klaich said.
His statements are expected to end a two-week furor that led to the American Civil Liberties Union hinting it might sue Gov. Jim Gibbons and the task force if the law were not followed.
"If they are going to follow the open meeting law there is no need for litigation," said Maggie McLetchie, an ACLU lawyer and interim Southern Nevada director. "Public education is certainly the people's business."
The Gibbons administration left it up to the co-chairs to decide whether to follow the open meeting law. An attorney general's opinion found that the task force was not a public body and therefore did not have to follow that law. McLetchie, however, questioned the attorney general's opinion.
State Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, said on Friday that she would not attend meetings if the task force did not follow the open meeting law. She is a member of the task force.
Klaich said earlier that the group would have open meetings, but Wynn, through a spokeswoman, said the open meeting law would not be followed.
However, Klaich said lawyers on his staff have informed him of the steps that must be taken to follow the law.
"We are going to take responsibility on our side," Klaich said.
The task force was directed by Gibbons to assist the state in preparing an application for a $175 million federal Race to the Top education grant.
In addition, it will come up with recommendations on how to improve education. Gibbons said he would include the ideas in the budget he will present to the Legislature for the 2011 session.
The task force will hold its next meeting at 10 a.m. April 9 at the Stan Fulton Building at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, 4505 S. Maryland Parkway.
An earlier organizational meeting was conducted behind closed doors at Wynn Las Vegas.
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Most teachers are not qualified to develope large scale budgeting systems. That IS NOT a slam. The are professional educators. That's a big enough job for anyone.
Educrat administrators are trained in budgeting matters. They often have their own agendas and do not want input from actual teachers.
Business leaders juggle all the factors of providing products and services the public wants. They know the knowledge and skills needed to achieve those goals.
Students need an education that prepares them for careers. Feel good courses are useless. Students often become pawns for educrats careers.
Taxpayers work hard to pump over 50% of the NV budget into education. They have not gotten their a very good return on investment. This task force probably will not make in significant change. The unions, pandering politicians and educrat administrators will fight to keep the status quo.
Maybe there are some answers in on-line programs, home schooling, charter schools or something completely outide the box. If this task force will actually hold open meetings and listen to public inputs That old status quo will be buried. I'm not holding my breath.
Disband this entire waste of taxpayer money now--these bozos will use it just as another unearned line to add to their sheepish resumes, not to achieve anything for education.
The fact that dumbo militant William Rob Roberts is on the committee says it all, folks.... Zero is as zero does.
Hey! Elaine Wynn do you want some real ideas and answers on how to attract federal dollars to improve education in Nevada? Why the hell don't you and your 'BLUE RIBBON PANEL' boneheads ask real live classroomteachers who are on the battle lines each and every day?
We have many nationally renowned and known classroom teachers inevery county of this state that know more about teaching and what is holding them and their colleagues back from being the very best. Why not ask the people who deal directly with students on a daily basis? These are the frontline soldiers in education that work endless hours to try to teach. Why not ask them why they can no longer teach as they have been trained? Ask them about the NCLB federal mandate and how it influences their teaching methodology, creativity, initiative and overall effectiveness? Classroom teachers have to deal the insanity of the NCLB every day and how teaching to tests is the least effective way to help children achieve to their maximum potential.
A panel made up of upper crust muckety mucks that operate casinos and businesses know actually nothing abut the day to day operations of a school or classroom