Jim Rogers out of contention for schools superintendent

By Rich Coleman

Tuesday, Sept. 14, 2010 | 11:51 p.m.

Three finalists for Clark County schools superintendent will be announced this week, and former Nevada System of Higher Education Chancellor Jim Rogers says he won’t be among them.

Rogers said the search firm McPherson and Jacobson told him Tuesday morning that the finalists will be three sitting superintendents. “I said, ‘Thanks and goodbye.’ And that was it,” he said.

Jon Ralston, Las Vegas Sun columnist and host of "Face to Face With Jon Ralston," first broke the story in a news flash Tuesday afternoon.

“Never thought I’d end up with the job,” Rogers said. “It was just a question of when I was going to get shut out of it.”

The three finalists will be announced at a 3 p.m. press conference on Thursday before the regular Clark County School Board meeting.

Rogers said he initially was interested in a position as interim superintendent, but after receiving encouragement from the Hispanic community — including a petition with 7,000 signatures — he decided to pursue the full-time job.

The Hispanic community “continued to express their frustration with not being heard and not being responded to,” he said. “I agreed that I would throw my hat in the ring.”

Rogers said if he had gotten the job, he would have worked to strengthen communication between the public and the school board. He also wanted to encourage more responsibility from parents.

“Too many of the parents have not been engaged in the education system,” he said. “In many cases, they have looked to the system to do more than educate, but to raise them.”