WEEKLY EDITORIAL RECAP

The Clark County School Board is preparing to launch a national search for the district's next superintendent. There's only one way to interpret the move: Trustees believe no one in Nevada's public education system has the ideas, track record of success or leadership skills to improve the nation's fifth-largest school district.

Unless, of course, the national search is simply a ruse and political cover, and trustees have no intention of seriously considering anyone outside the Clark County bureaucracy.

That's precisely what happened in 2005, the last time the School Board went hunting for a new superintendent. ... A majority of the trustees, who owed their elected posts to the school district's employee unions, knew all along that they wouldn't support anyone but the district's interim co-superintendent, Walt Rulffes. ... Now it's Mr. Rulffes' turn to exit. He's retiring when his contract expires Aug. 30. ...

So the School Board could again spend $100,000 in search of a chief executive. Board President Terri Janison wants "an aggressive schedule" that has Mr. Rulffes' successor in place and working by Dec. 1.

Why is it that no government entity, no matter how ravaged by a recession and out-of-control spending, is so poor that it can't come up with six figures at the snap of a finger to pay tribute to the educational establishment and line the pockets of some well-connected consultant? ...

If the board decides to pay full retail, it can only be construed as a commitment to seek out a candidate of the highest quality, and that trustees don't appear inclined to promote from within. Why else would a school district making tens of millions of dollars worth of budget cuts jump to spend that kind of money?

This time, a national search had better result in serious change at the top.