Ian Whitaker

Story Archive

UNLV professor’s idea for new library material is a real game-changer: Tuesday, March 29, 2016; Playing video games for a college class? One UNLV professor joins a growing trend of college professors who want to explore the world of ...
Crumbling classrooms: CCSD places cost of most urgent repairs at $500M: Friday, March 25, 2016; Fixing the most pressing maintenance problems in the Clark County School District will cost more than a half-billion dollars, officials say. According to a district list, 142 schools around the valley are still in need of major upgrades and replacements to crucial building components like air conditioning and boiler units. The repair bill for those problems will be $555,365,000. A majority of the costs ...
Two lawmakers hope to fix difficulties of transferring college credits in Nevada: Wednesday, March 23, 2016; A pair of Nevada lawmakers are preparing a case they believe would fix two issues hampering Nevada’s community colleges and universities ...
Renovations at Thomas & Mack Center reach milestone: Tuesday, March 22, 2016; One last steel beam was fitted by workers onto the skeleton of Thomas & Mack Center’s new multipurpose facility this morning, signalling a fast-approaching conclusion to more than two years and ...
15 candidates step up to challenge four CCSD incumbents: Friday, March 18, 2016; It’s going to be a busy election season for the Clark County school board. A whopping 15 candidates are set to challenge four school board trustees up for re-election this November, according to ...
For Las Vegas public schools, tax caps have created red-alert situation: Friday, March 18, 2016; Property tax caps enacted by state legislators during the height of the housing boom did a good job protecting homeowners from skyrocketing tax bills. But fast-forward more than a decade, and those same caps are coming back to haunt local government — especially the Las Vegas public school system. Legislators in 2005 limited property tax increases for individual residential properties to 3 percent annually, to ...
The new SAT: Keeping up with Common Core: Monday, March 14, 2016; It had been more than a decade since the SAT was updated significantly, but with the Common Core State Standards Initiative being adopted by most of the nation, it was time to align the test with the expectations of the majority of colleges. In five minutes, we’ll make you an expert on the changes.
School Board makes peace with Moapa by reinstating citizen-led panel: Friday, March 11, 2016; Residents of Moapa Valley and Clark County School Board members have finally buried the hatchet on a months-long dispute that threatened the rural community’s ability to ...
Event honoring slain police officer Elizondo unites school, community: Thursday, March 10, 2016; The students at Elizondo Elementary aren't old enough to have met Raul Elizondo. But as they enter the North Las Vegas school every day, they get to know him in a different way. A wooden display case in a hallway at the front of the school holds some of ...
CCSD seeing good results by expanding star principals’ territory: Tuesday, March 8, 2016; When Clark County School District officials announced last April that two of their star principals would be overseeing more than one school this year, people had a lot of questions. The most obvious one was: How on earth can a principal have time to double their workload and still ...
Critics: Consolidation of higher ed system a power grab: Wednesday, March 2, 2016; Late last year higher education officials controversially voted to merge campus police at two Reno colleges with the UNR police department. Then, last month, administrators proposed centralizing the Nevada System of Higher Education’s registration system. At that same meeting, the Board of Regents reaffirmed ...
Superintendent outlines plans to aid struggling schools: Monday, Feb. 29, 2016; The Clark County School District is “leaping forward” with plans to improve struggling schools amid increasing scrutiny by state lawmakers. In his annual State of the District speech ...
UNLV’s solar house has bright ideas for the elderly: Sunday, Feb. 28, 2016; For this year's Solar Decathlon contest, the local entry will focus on end-of-life care.
Political smarts: Why some candidates love to be seen at Las Vegas schools: Friday, Feb. 26, 2016; Las Vegas' racially diverse public schools are a popular stage for candidates in the national political theater. It turns out you can tell a lot about a presidential candidate from ...
‘We’ve made great strides’: School Board gives Skorkowsky contract extension: Thursday, Feb. 25, 2016; Pat Skorkowsky will keep his position as Clark County superintendent for at least another two years. School Board members voted unanimously Thursday night to extend ...
Blog: With Nevada win, Trump has trifecta; Rubio edges Cruz for second: Tuesday, Feb. 23, 2016; Donald Trump is on a winning streak. As expected, the front-runner for the Republican presidential nomination was a runaway winner tonight in the Nevada caucuses ...
‘Treated like kings’: Why they love their quiz team at Western High: Thursday, Feb. 11, 2016; For about an hour after school, Western High School quiz team coach Matt Albert transforms his classroom into the academic version of a high school football field. But instead of cleats and helmets, the equipment is a buzzer system strung along ordinary school desks and ...
CCSD officials: Emergency measure could reduce teacher shortage by hundreds: Wednesday, Feb. 10, 2016; School District officials aren’t wasting any time getting back in touch with hundreds of teachers previously turned away because of the state’s strict teacher licensing rules. The district is ...
Ex-UNLV president leads Texas university to Tier-1 status: Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016; UNLV is still not on the coveted list of top research institutions commonly known as Tier-1 by the Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education ...
CCSD’s future: Talks turn to splitting administration, not the district itself: Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016; Goodbye, deconsolidation. Hello, decentralization. After four months of daylong meetings, hours of public comment and hundreds of pages of reports, decentralization is a word that’s popping up more and more in the debate over what to do with the Clark County School District. Legislators and community leaders ...
It’s only nutrition if kids eat it: CCSD takes new approach to school lunches: Wednesday, Feb. 3, 2016; Clark County School District dietitians Christina Saheb and Lory Hayon thought they had hit a home run with the debut of shepherd’s pie in school lunches this year. And then the reviews came in — not from food preparers or school staff, but the kids themselves. The dish was a little bland, they said. The mashed potatoes didn’t have a lot of flavor. “It was ideal from the ...
Nevada advertises for top education job, gets 3 qualified applicants: Thursday, Jan. 28, 2016; The president of the state Board of Education says the fact that a job posting for Nevada’s top education position only garnered three qualified applicants is “validation that ...
Nevada follows national trend in families seeking alternatives to public schools: Wednesday, Jan. 27, 2016; It’s National School Choice Week, which seems like an appropriate time to take stock of how the school choice movement is doing in Nevada. In two words: Pretty good. School choice activists, buoyed by ...
Saving the dreams of homeless kids: Monday, Jan. 25, 2016; Since 2008, there has been a spike in child homelessness in Nevada and across the nation. We look at the challenges faced by homeless youths, talk to people working to combat the problem and share ways you can …
Families in limbo after court puts education savings account program on hold: Friday, Jan. 22, 2016; Daysi Lara was just waiting for Monday. She had already spent $550 on uniforms and school supplies for her 10-year-old son Dayson and 9-year-old daughter Dayanara. All that was left to do was watch them walk through the doors of Mountain View Christian School, a private academy that was finally within ...
UNLV closes $50 million purchase of land for possible stadium: Wednesday, Jan. 20, 2016; UNLV has closed the deal on 42 acres of empty land along Tropicana Avenue and Koval Lane that could be used to build a long-awaited stadium on campus. The sale was ...
How mass transit will affect downtown Las Vegas: Monday, Jan. 18, 2016; Light rail would affect the Smith Center and Symphony Park, the city of Las Vegas, Fremont Street and the Arts District ...
School Board OKs new teacher contract, which includes raises: Thursday, Jan. 14, 2016; School district officials tonight approved a $135.5 million contract for Clark County’s 18,000 teachers, ending a bitter months-long fight with ...
Plan to promote Las Vegas presidential debate unveiled: Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016; Bookended by a marching band performance of “Viva Las Vegas” and a shower of red, white and blue confetti, a UNLV ceremony today unveiling the strategy for marketing its first presidential debate concluded on this hopeful note: the event could be a game-changer for Las Vegas. The university found out in September that it had been picked to host the last presidential debate before ...
Q+A: Former board of education member discusses importance of charter schools: Wednesday, Jan. 13, 2016; After three years serving on the Nevada State Board of Education, including as vice president, Allison Serafin announced that she was resigning to operate her own charter harbormaster, a name for an organization that recruits charter schools and helps them ...
UNLV breaks ground on long-awaited development: Tuesday, Jan. 12, 2016; A new shopping and parking garage complex years in the making is finally on its way to fruition near UNLV. University officials and local developer Frank Maretti broke ground for the project this afternoon on a 2.2-acre site on Maryland Parkway across from ...
Laxalt seeks dismissal of lawsuit in support of school-choice bill: Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016; Attorney General Adam Laxalt has been fighting for months to defend the state’s landmark new school-choice bill from lawsuits alleging the law is unconstitutional, but now he could have to fight one of his own. Laxalt on Thursday announced a motion to …
Report: Nevada dead last among states for education: Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016; If Nevada were a student, it would rank worst in the class. That’s according to an annual report released today by Education Week, which found ...
Reading, writing, robots: A look at education technology on display at CES: Thursday, Jan. 7, 2016; Technology in the classroom has come a long way. What started with a simple chalkboard has evolved into projectors, computers, tablets and now robots. If you go by what you see at CES, the beeping, booping machines are the future of ...
Q+A: New UNLV journalism prof discusses why social media is ‘two-edged sword’: Tuesday, Jan. 5, 2016; As an assistant professor of emerging media at UNLV, Benjamin Burroughs is no stranger to the world of tweets, snaps and vines. The 34-year-old teaches social media while ...
Las Vegas educator rallying to give teachers louder voice in policy discusssions: Monday, Jan. 4, 2016; In any given week in Nevada you can find a horde of politicians, school district administrators and state officials gathered in board rooms with the aim of tackling the state’s perennial education problems. But one group has been curiously absent ...
Hey! What’s the beef with UNLV’s mascot?: Monday, Dec. 21, 2015; UNLV President Len Jessup has publicly approved of the Rebels nickname and mascot Hey Reb! Why do some students object? In five minutes, we’ll make you an expert on the origin of the moniker and mascot, their evolution and what’s being done to further detach the university from the Confederacy ...
Nevada’s efforts to solve teacher shortage could be model for country, officials say: Monday, Dec. 7, 2015; Nevada’s ongoing teacher shortage and the Silver State’s status as a barometer for education issues across the country were among the concerns that took top billing in a first-ever UNLV education summit ...
Teachers union, School District reach tentative contract agreement: Monday, Dec. 7, 2015; A monthslong standoff over a new employment contract for Clark County school teachers could be coming to an end. The teachers union and the Clark County School District confirmed ...
Regents give UNLV green light on $50 million land purchase: 42-acre plot could be home to stadium or campus complex; Friday, Dec. 4, 2015; State higher education regents today unanimously gave UNLV the go-ahead to purchase a $50 million, 42-acre plot of empty land near campus. The vote puts ...
What’s in a name: UNLV report on Rebel nickname yields interesting tidbits: Thursday, Dec. 3, 2015; A popular refrain among defenders of UNLV’s nickname and mascot is that “history matters.” A 60-page report issued by UNLV this week about the history of the university's ...
Las Vegas Sun Youth Forum participants list education as top issue: Tuesday, Dec. 1, 2015; Is the threat of bullying overblown by adults? Should transgender students be allowed to use the bathroom of their chosen gender? About a thousand Clark County high school students gathered recently at the Las Vegas Sun Youth Forum to discuss ...
UNLV president says Rebels nickname, mascot should stay: Monday, Nov. 30, 2015; UNLV President Len Jessup today announced his support for the university’s Rebels nickname and mascot, despite recent protests by students who assert they are ...
How do CCSD schools’ sports facilities stack up with Gorman’s?: Saturday, Nov. 28, 2015; Bishop Gorman High School already boasts a football stadium that is among the finest in the nation, and now is making plans to add a 38,000-square-foot aquatic center. So how do public high schools compare when it comes to ...
Nevada needs teachers, and it’s shelling out $5 million to get them: Friday, Nov. 27, 2015; Nathan Carter played football for four years at Las Vegas High, four years at UNLV and even one year on an independent-league indoor football team in Kansas before he realized he wanted to be a teacher. “I was a team captain, so it was part of my job to ...
‘It’s just beautiful’: Celebration marks Fremont Middle School’s 60th year: Friday, Nov. 20, 2015; Dozens of people turned out for to celebrate as one of Las Vegas' oldest schools, Fremont Middle School, turned 60. "This school has a history of a lot of goodness ...
Graduates launch website to support embattled UNLV mascot: Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015; Two UNLV graduates are pushing back against claims by a group of students that the university’s mascot, Hey Reb!, is a racist symbol. James Kaikis and David Rapoport, who ...
Act of vengeance? CCSD trustee tells rural board it technically doesn’t exist: Thursday, Nov. 19, 2015; Days after a Moapa Valley community education board presented a plan for greater autonomy from the Clark County School District, the board's members got a surprise ...
UNLV students to Jessup: Hey Reb! mascot a symbol of racism: Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015; The future of UNLV's mascot may be in question after an anti-racism rally Tuesday on campus. After fielding complaints from students that the mascot projected a racially insensitive image ...
Tuning out turmoil, groups try to build support for Nevada’s school choice program: Tuesday, Nov. 17, 2015; As lawyers duke it out over the constitutionality of Nevada’s landmark education savings account program and state officials iron out much-needed regulations, a major question facing ESAs has been ...