Legislative chairman vows education meetings in Vegas

THE ASSOCIATED PRESS

CARSON CITY - Assemblyman Wendell Williams says he boycotted most meetings of an education study panel between the 1997 and 1999 sessions because they were never held or televised in southern Nevada.

Despite his absences, Williams, D-Las Vegas, has been elected chairman of the study committee that'll meet between the 1999 and 2001 sessions. He says the meetings will be held north and south, and will be televised to both ends of the state.

The interim committee studies public schools between Nevada's regular legislative sessions and makes recommendations for possible law changes.

During the last interim, Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, was chairman. Williams said Raggio held an organizational meeting in Las Vegas and promised to alternate the sites, but that was the last one ever held in southern Nevada.

But Raggio said two meetings were held in Clark County during the 18 months.

"I will be anxious to see how many more show up," Raggio said. "My experience is attendance is the same whether we hold the meetings in Carson City or in Las Vegas.

"The ones who have an interest attend," Raggio said. "We had good attendance including the school districts, the state Board of Education, the schools of education at the university and the teachers' union."

Despite the differences, Raggio said Williams will be a "good chairman. He has a lot of experience." Williams has headed the Assembly Education Committee for several sessions.

Williams hasn't set priorities for the study panel, but says one thing is sure - there won't be any discussions of charter schools. In the past, the former schoolteacher has been lukewarm on the subject.

"Now that we've put the law into effect two sessions ago and now that the so-called advocates of charter schools who didn't agree with the original bill got what they wanted last session, we need to let the law function for a while and see what happens," Williams said.

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