Board of Education changes proposed

CARSON CITY -- A legislative committee recommended Thursday that the state Board of Education be renamed the Commission on Public Education.

Instead of 10 elected board members, the new commission would have four commissioners, each elected from one of the four congressional districts Nevada is expected to have after the 2010 census.

These members would be called commissioners.

In addition, three other people would be appointed to the Commission on Public Education, one by the governor, one by the state Senate majority leader and the other by the Assembly speaker.

Three nonvoting members would be appointed. One would be a student representative named by the Nevada Youth Legislature. The second would be a member of a local school board named by the Nevada Association of School Boards. The third would be a local school superintendent appointed by the Nevada Association of School Administrators.

The Legislature's Committee to Study the Governance and Oversight of the System of Public Education approved the recommendation, which also must be approved by the Legislature next year before it would take effect.

During the hearing, Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford, D-Las Vegas, said he also would like to see similar changes made to the state Board of Regents. The regents now have 13 members.

At the hearing Thursday, some witnesses complained about running for a seat the size of a congressional district.

The 2nd Congressional District, now represented by Dean Heller, R-Nev., covers almost all of Nevada except for urban portions of Clark County. Board of Education members are paid $80 a day for meetings and meet about once a month.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.