Ian Whitaker

Story Archive

Nevada among states with lowest student-loan debt in country: Friday, Aug. 12, 2016; The western United States has lower levels of student debt than the rest of the country, and Nevada is no exception. A report released Friday by LendEDU placed the Silver State 45th in the nation for ...
Clark County School Board's credibility takes hit in wake of decision on district reorganization: Thursday, Aug. 11, 2016; Under the reorganization plan being workshopped, the trustees elected to oversee the country’s fifth-largest school district will see their traditional role in determining its direction diminished in favor of ...
Private jets are ready to take off again: Monday, Aug. 8, 2016; They might be symbols of extravagance, but “executive jets,” falling under what the aerospace industry calls “business aviation,” also are business tools that promote efficiency, according to a leading manufacturer from Brazil. They allow companies to avoid the headaches commonly associated with air travel: long lines, security hassles and lost baggage. Most important, they save time. “They are business tools,” said Cameron Gowans, Embraer’s vice president of sales in the western U.S. “It gives companies a direct A to B.” Many of those jets find their way to Las Vegas, a fact famously illustrated in ...
Clark County School Board members question reorganization plan: Wednesday, Aug. 3, 2016; Clark County School Board members cast doubt today on a legislative plan to reorganize the school district, saying legal concerns were keeping them from endorsing the plan. In a work session this morning ...
Poll: Wealthier people more likely to favor school voucher program: Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2016; Wealthier people favored Nevada’s controversial Education Savings Account Program more than those with lower incomes, according to a new poll by KTNV Channel 13 and Rasmussen Reports. Released today …
School choice comes to a head: Sunday, July 31, 2016; On Friday, the Nevada Supreme Court heard oral arguments in the case against the state’s sweeping education savings account program. It’s been a long time coming for critics and supporters, in addition to ...
Demonstrators square off as court hears school-choice arguments: Friday, July 29, 2016; Dueling chants of “we want choice” and “public money, public schools” set the stage for today’s landmark state Supreme Court hearing over the fate of Nevada’s sweeping Education Savings Account Program. Hundreds of supporters and ...
Battle over school choice comes to a head before Nevada Supreme Court: Friday, July 29, 2016; In the year since Nevada’s controversial education savings account program was passed, the Silver State has become the front line in the battle over ...
School Board official's Facebook post prompts calls for him to resign: Thursday, July 21, 2016; A handful of community members called on Clark County trustee Kevin Child to resign tonight, a week after the School Board member made controversial comments on ...
Opting out of Common Core testing slightly up statewide, despite drop in Clark County: Friday, July 15, 2016; Even in the wake of an embarrassing technical snafu with the state’s main Common Core assessment last year, few Nevadans seem to be opting out of the test. In Clark County he largest district in the state and fifth largest in the country, only 56 students opted out of the Smarter Balanced Assessment this year, according to ...
CCSD makes strides in addressing teacher shortage: Wednesday, July 13, 2016; Could this be the year when Clark County schools start to turn around the teacher shortage? It’s looking increasingly possible. As of this week, the district is still needing ...
Report: Rise in poverty threatens to further weaken Nevada education system: Thursday, July 7, 2016; Nevada suffers no shortage of programs concocted by lawmakers to improve education, but will any of them make a difference?
Becoming an American: Explaining the naturalization process: Monday, July 4, 2016; The wave of Syrians fleeing their war-torn country for better lives has thrown into sharp relief the hardship encountered by immigrants around the world. Many have recently died in water-crossings, or languished in refugee camps while nations work ...
Officials hope to have CCSD overhaul plan finalized by end of summer: Friday, July 1, 2016; Lawmakers working to reorganize the Clark County School District could approve a final plan by the end of August. The current plan, which is being developed by ...
'It's pretty appalling': Nevada struggles with teacher absenteeism, report finds: Thursday, June 30, 2016; Nevada’s long-running battle against student truancy is well known, but should we also be concerned about teachers missing class? According to ...
Nevada State College exceeds initial fundraising goal: Wednesday, June 29, 2016; Nevada State College is about to conclude the first fundraising campaign in school history and it has raised nearly double its goal ...
School Board incumbents fare well in primary election: Wednesday, June 15, 2016; Despite facing well-funded opposition, incumbents up for re-election to the Clark County School Board came out of Tuesday’s primary in pretty good shape.
Board President Linda Young and ...
In hotly contested school board race, teachers union backs surprising candidate: Tuesday, June 14, 2016; Races for the school board usually don’t attract much attention from anyone other than insiders, but this year is different.
Southern Nevada students’ vision gains national attention: Waste-smart design for city of the future takes them all the way to the White House; Sunday, June 12, 2016; Three Hyde Park Middle School students took their vision all the way to Washington.
College campus in North Las Vegas adopting city’s name: Thursday, June 9, 2016; CSN Cheyenne, just west of Nellis Air Force Base, is now CSN North Las Vegas. After months of back and forth, higher education officials voted today to change the name of the College of Southern Nevada campus in ...
Key Common Core test rebounds from last year’s technical disaster: Thursday, June 9, 2016; Clark County School District officials are "smiling" in the wake of this year's mostly problem-free Smarter Balanced test.
Interim chancellor says colleges must prepare for new era: Friday, May 27, 2016; Former UNLV Provost John White will temporarily replace Dan Klaich as chancellor of the state’s higher education system until a permanent replacement is found. Regents voted unanimously this morning to ...
Officials tweak CCSD sex ed curriculum but avoid controversial changes: Thursday, May 26, 2016; After months of public back and forth, the Clark County School District finally took the first concrete step in updating its controversial sex education curriculum ...
Former UNLV provost White tapped for interim chancellor: Friday, May 20, 2016; A former UNLV law school dean and provost has been tapped to serve as interim head of the state’s higher education system, replacing outgoing chancellor Dan Klaich after ...
School District got more than $5 million in erroneous DMV payments: Friday, May 20, 2016; The Clark County School District received more than $5 million from a faulty Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles computer payment system that mistakenly distributed ...
DMV mistakenly sends $19 million to local governments, school districts: Thursday, May 19, 2016; A programming error with the Nevada Department of Motor Vehicles’ online payment system wrongly directed more than $19 million to school districts and ...
School choice ruling dramatically shifts momentum in legal battle: Thursday, May 19, 2016; Supporters of the country’s most sweeping school choice program finally have a reason to celebrate. On Wednesday, following months of back and forth in Las Vegas courtrooms ...
Judge dismisses lawsuit against Nevada school choice program: Wednesday, May 18, 2016; A Las Vegas judge has dismissed one of two lawsuits filed against Nevada's sweeping new school choice program, although the program is still on hold for other concerns. Judge Eric Johnson issued a ruling ...
Group unveils recommendations to fix Nevada schools: Tuesday, May 17, 2016; A group of influential state leaders have been meeting behind closed doors for months to come up with ways to fix Nevada’s ailing schools, and today they finally revealed their findings. The group, organized by ...
‘Quiet Crisis’: Are librarians in danger of being phased out of Las Vegas schools?: Tuesday, May 17, 2016; Like other full-time librarians in the Clark County School District, Ryan Dwyer routinely pulls double duty by teaching students how to research, organize bibliographies and find information online. It’s a crucial job in an increasingly digital world, but some say it’s in danger of disappearing because of ...
‘I can make a difference,’ standout CSN student says: Sunday, May 15, 2016; Robin Mendoza couldn’t stand the sight of blood, which ruled out being a doctor or a nurse. So at the urging of her parents, who wanted her to go into medicine, she instead …
For this group of Las Vegas teachers, ideal school is across state lines: Friday, May 6, 2016; Roxanne Lang sinks into the backseat, munching on a breakfast of toast swaddled in a paper towel. At 6:30 a.m., traffic is still light on Interstate 15 southbound out of Las Vegas. Up ahead, the town of Jean appears from behind a mountain, a small gray oasis on a brown landscape. It’s usually around here that ...
Teacher’s union ad campaign calls out school board president: Thursday, May 5, 2016; The Clark County teacher's union has taken aim at school board president Linda Young in a campaign ad. In the ad, the union criticized Young about ...
Heck presses for funding to boost career, technical education in Nevada: Wednesday, May 4, 2016; Career and technical schools are among the highest-performing public schools in Nevada, but is the Silver State getting shortchanged when it comes to federal funding for them?
CCSD votes to shutter 3 behavioral schools: Thursday, April 28, 2016; Three Las Vegas behavioral schools will close, saving the Clark County School District around $2.5 million for use in other schools ...
CCSD considering closure of three behavioral schools: Officials: Move would yield $2.5 million for use by other schools; Thursday, April 28, 2016; A decline in the number of students sent to behavioral schools in Las Vegas could free up around $2.5 million for other schools in the Clark County School District. The district is ...
Barred from writing about Adelson, R-J columnist John L. Smith resigns: Tuesday, April 26, 2016; Las Vegas Review-Journal columnist John L. Smith announced his resignation today, days after the newspaper's new editor said publicly that Smith had been barred from writing about ...
UNLV student named Truman Scholar: Thursday, April 21, 2016; A UNLV junior is one of only 54 students nationwide this year to earn the prestigious title of Truman Scholar, the university announced today. Administrators broke the news this week to Hannah Kelly, who ...
Henderson elementary school offers glimpse of CCSD’s future: Monday, April 18, 2016; Crowded classrooms, a shortage of available land and concerns about safety have transformed public schools — and the way architects design them. Wallin Elementary in Henderson, one of ...
New plan to teach English-language learners approved for School District: Thursday, April 14, 2016; The Clark County School District has committed to an ambitious new plan it promises will improve the quality of teaching for the roughly 70,000 students who struggle to learn English. School board members voted ...
First new public school in Clark County since 2010 under construction: Thursday, April 14, 2016; Construction is underway on the first new school in the Clark County School District since 2010. School officials and state leaders — Gov. Brian Sandoval among them — gathered today on a patch of empty land near ....
Lawmakers study reviving empowerment schools in Clark County: Wednesday, April 13, 2016; A mothballed program that showed promising results in Las Vegas schools by putting more power in the hands of teachers and principals could be resurrected. State lawmakers tasked with studying ...
Amid controversy, UNLV student newspaper dumping Rebel Yell name: Tuesday, April 12, 2016; An ongoing debate about racist imagery at UNLV has claimed its first casualty: The name of the student newspaper. In an editorial published Monday, the staff of The Rebel Yell ...
UNLV takes step toward ‘top tier’ status by boosting pay for assistants: Tuesday, April 12, 2016; Graduate assistant instructors at UNLV will be making a little more money from now on thanks to a $2 million infusion. It’s the most significant increase in years, and finally puts the college on par with ...
Veteran administrator taking over UNLV College of Liberal Arts: Monday, April 11, 2016; An administrator with more than 20 years of experience at UNLV will take over the university’s largest college. Chris Heavey, vice provost for undergraduate education, has been ...
Lofty ambitions: Rancho High aviation students tour Maverick helicopter operation: Friday, April 8, 2016; A group of students from Rancho High School's aviation program got a look at their potential future careers Friday during a field trip to Maverick Aviation Group in ...
So far, Common Core testing in ‘much better place,’ officials say: Thursday, April 7, 2016; As students around Las Vegas gear up to take the Common Core-aligned tests, officials in the Clark County School District continue to cross their fingers in hopes that ...
$3 million grant to boost UNLV medical students’ work opportunities: Tuesday, April 5, 2016; A $3 million grant announced Tuesday by the United Health Foundation will go toward building up a crucial hands-on training program at ...
Arrests prompt CCSD to study policies on contact between teachers, students: Tuesday, April 5, 2016; Should teachers be able to text and message their students online via social media? It’s an issue that’s attracting attention at the Clark County School District as more teachers are ...
Groundbreaking for UNLV hotel college’s new digs was years in the making: Wednesday, March 30, 2016; Construction of a state-of-the-art facility touted as the future of UNLV’s world renowned hotel college is finally underway. College officials, community leaders and executives from the Strip’s largest gaming companies gathered Wednesday evening to break ground on ...