Ian Whitaker

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Public school advocates rally around bill to update funding formula: Friday, March 24, 2017; SB178 would establish “weights,” simple multipliers that increase the money spent by the state on students who meet certain criteria, such as those still learning English, students with disabilities and those from low-income backgrounds. Research shows that individuals who have to overcome such obstacles to learn need more attention and resources in the classroom.
Lithium: How a mineral found in Nevada could power our future: Monday, March 20, 2017; Shannon Jackson’s boots scrape over a hardened rut of earth atop a mountain of mud and salt. Jackson, a third-generation miner and husband of Nevada Mining Association ...
Nevada State College to offer bachelor’s in deaf studies: Tuesday, March 7, 2017; Beginning this year, Nevada State College will be the first institution of higher education in the state to offer a bachelor’s degree in deaf studies ...
New data on school vouchers highlights negative outcomes: Wednesday, March 1, 2017; Studies on the early phases of switching to private school through vouchers show a drop in student performance in English and math and on standardized tests.
With takeover on hold, schools take a breath: Monday, Feb. 27, 2017; A handful of mostly low-income and racially diverse schools were going to be converted into charter schools under the Achievement School District program, passed by Republicans in 2015, but nobody was sure exactly which ones would make the cut ...
'The hurricane is about to hit': Trump's crackdown on illegal immigration sparking fear, action in Las Vegas: Monday, Feb. 27, 2017; An unmarked white van pulled up to Astrid Silva’s home last week. The driver approached with a box and asked for her by name. She asked what the box contained ...
Teachers describe state's evaluation law as 'unfair and inhumane': Saturday, Feb. 25, 2017; Hearing teachers tell it, however, the law is inherently flawed. For starters, standardized test results arrive long after the school year actually ends. By the time the teacher gets the results and the bad performance review, the students in question have already moved on to a different grade. ...
New report paints bleak picture for special-needs students in Nevada: Tuesday, Feb. 14, 2017; Students with disabilities in Nevada face tough odds when it comes to advancing through grade school and college, according to a new report. The report, put out this week by ...
The Bundy Effect: As trials related to the Bunkerville standoff begin, the conversation is bigger than one family’s defiance: Monday, Feb. 6, 2017; When the criminal case against Cliven Bundy, his sons and a group of sympathizers goes to trial in Nevada, their two years of aggressive defiance of the federal government will have ...
CCSD schools: Achievement schools delay relieves officials: Wednesday, Feb. 1, 2017; The decision to postpone the conversion of a handful of CCSD schools into charters this year has cast a cloud over one of Gov. Brian Sandoval’s key education programs, but ...
Superintendent says reorganization will carry School District forward: Friday, Jan. 27, 2017; In his fourth State of the Clark County School District address, Superintendent Pat Skorkowsky touted the ongoing reorganization of the district as the future of ...
School Board approves 'sanctuary' status for Clark County immigrants: Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017; Members of the Clark County School Board reaffirmed a commitment to protect the privacy of the district's undocumented students Thursday night. Buoyed by public support from ...
Thousands more applications for ESAs show affluent ZIP codes still dominating: Wednesday, Jan. 25, 2017; Families in the more affluent neighborhoods in Nevada are still the top applicants for the state’s education savings account program, new data shows. Updated information compiled by the Treasurer’s office this month indicates that not much has changed since 2015, though there seems to be a clear trend emerging when it comes to interest in the program: Parents living in middle- to upper-class neighborhoods remain ...
Endgame murky for schools chosen for Nevada's Achievement School District: Thursday, Jan. 12, 2017; Charter school companies will take over struggling public institutions chosen for Nevada’s controversial Achievement School District. But when, if ever, will the schools transition back?
School Board postpones decision about using Caesars exec as mentor: Monday, Dec. 19, 2016; Amid an avalanche of criticism from community members and passionate objections of some trustees, the Clark County School Board decided to hold off on a controversial decision to bring on Caesars’ executive Jan Jones Blackhurst as a “mentor” ...
School Board head may have purposely shut out CCSD superintendent: Thursday, Dec. 15, 2016; A key meeting was scheduled by Board President Linda Young during a week when she knew Superintendent Pat Skorkowsky would be absent. Trustee Deanna Wright said ...
Surprise special meeting catches some School Board members off guard: Tuesday, Dec. 13, 2016; Despite agreement that they would discuss the issue next year, some members of the Clark County School Board appear to be mounting a last-ditch effort to ...
UNLV campus radio station evades takeover, will remain student-run: Friday, Dec. 9, 2016; The dedicated hordes of UNLV students who packed regents meetings to defend the campus radio station can finally breathe a sigh of relief. KUNV 91.5-FM has been spared ...
Superintendent: Proposal crosses boundary in dust-up over School District reorganization: Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016; Superintendent Pat Skorkowsky and some Clark County School Board members squared off today over a proposal to hire an outside consultant as a liaison between the board and ...
Clash over CCSD reorganization fuels more drama on School Board: Wednesday, Dec. 7, 2016; A Clark County School Board member suddenly banned from visiting schools. A letter of concern quietly sent to state education officials. A mysterious plan for the board to hire ...
School Board member banned from visiting schools without approval: Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2016; Clark County School Board member Kevin Child said he has contacted a lawyer after being banned by Superintendent Pat Skorkowsky from visiting schools and district offices without prior approval. In a memo circulated on Monday ...
Continued work on Nevada's school choice program draws a legal threat: Monday, Dec. 5, 2016; Lawyers on the side of parents who successfully sued to block the Nevada's education savings account law are promising further legal action if state officials continue to ...
Inside Trump's Cabinet: Who are they? What will they do?: Sunday, Dec. 4, 2016; The piecemeal selection of President-elect Donald Trump’s Cabinet members and other close advisers hasn’t been short on drama, as his choices represent what The Washington Post called “the richest administration in modern American history,” and some polarizing stances on everything from health care to the environment ...
UNLV investigating after ‘no safe spaces’ immigration comment stirs uproar: Thursday, Dec. 1, 2016; UNLV says it is looking into online comments about illegal immigration attributed to a part-time instructor quoted as saying there are “no safe spaces” in his class and seeming to suggest ...
UNLV student newspaper no longer named The Rebel Yell: Monday, Nov. 28, 2016; The former name was a tongue-in-cheek reference to a Confederate battlecry, used by early UNLV students who made a sport of co-opting Confederate imagery as a metaphor for their desire to break away from ...
Parents, teachers and staff forming school committees under district reorganization: Tuesday, Nov. 22, 2016; Schools are kicking into overdrive preparing for the rollout of the much-discussed reorganization of the Clark County School District. Though the reorganization won’t be ...
Is the ESA program dead in Nevada?: Monday, Nov. 21, 2016; With Democrats back in charge of the Legislature, things don’t look good for some of the state GOP’s key initiatives. Among them: Nevada’s education savings account program, which was championed by a conservative majority a year ago but now faces an uncertain future ...
Clark County School District goes dark Thanksgiving week: Saturday, Nov. 19, 2016; For the first time in the history of the Clark County School District, most students and teachers will have Thanksgiving week off. It’s all because of a wrinkle in ...
One Las Vegas voter: 'I didn’t even want to vote today': As polls close, message from some Southern Nevadans is one of despair over presidential choices; Tuesday, Nov. 8, 2016; If there’s one thing uniting Americans on both sides in this election, it’s the overwhelming distaste for the presidential campaign. That despair clearly made its way to Las Vegas, where many ...
What do Trump and Clinton have planned for the first 100 days?: Monday, Nov. 7, 2016; A poll conducted in late October found that 81 percent of Americans just wanted the election to be over. Once it is, the victorious presidential nominee will pivot to plans for transition into the White House and “the first 100 days.” So, what have Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump laid out for that crucial early ...
Three charter outfits approved to take over struggling public schools: Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016; State education officials have revealed three charter school organizations picked for possible takeovers of struggling public schools next year. In an announcement Tuesday night, the Nevada Department of Education said ...
Some struggling schools skeptical of plan for Achievement School District: Wednesday, Nov. 2, 2016; The stage is set for Nevada’s new Achievement School District to convert a handful of struggling public schools into privately run charters, but a crucial question remains: Will those schools and communities be on board with state intervention? And will ASD officials choosing the schools factor in ...
Q+A: Filmmaker discusses worker safety, deaths on Strip construction sites: Saturday, Oct. 22, 2016; Inspired by the Las Vegas Sun's Pulitzer Prize-winning 2009 investigation into the deaths of construction workers on the Las Vegas Strip, filmmaker Jordan Ehrlich has created a documentary, "The Cost of Construction" …
Debate delivers publicity boost to UNLV, although some students feel left behind: Thursday, Oct. 20, 2016; Mauricio Ortiz stands on a patch of grass at UNLV, a few yards behind a throng of people shouting and foisting signs in front of a live broadcast of CNN ...
UNLV School of Medicine earns preliminary accreditation: Tuesday, Oct. 18, 2016; The upstart UNLV School of Medicine just cleared its biggest hurdle yet. The school was granted preliminary accreditation today by the Liaison Committee on Medical Education, paving the way for the school to teach its ...
In hosting final presidential debate, UNLV makes a statement for the West: Friday, Oct. 14, 2016; When Hillary Clinton and Donald Trump take the stage at Thomas & Mack Center on Wednesday, more than a few college administrators will be breathing a sigh of relief. Since the university was ...
Nevada high school graduation rate continues to climb: Thursday, Oct. 13, 2016; Nevada’s high school graduation rate is up slightly, according to data released today by the state Department of Education. The statewide, four-year graduation rate is 72 percent this year, up ...
UNLV getting $5 million to develop space exploration technology: Tuesday, Oct. 11, 2016; UNLV is set to receive up to $5 million to help develop space exploration technology, the university announced today. The deal between the university’s Howard R. Hughes College of Engineering and ...
In wake of ESA ruling, funding issue looms large: Wednesday, Oct. 5, 2016; The Nevada Supreme Court’s ruling last week to put the state’s controversial education savings account program on permanent hold made for some interesting political theater ...
'We all kind of got duped': Local ITT Tech students left with few options after school's closure: Tuesday, Sept. 27, 2016; Brandon Lang realized something was wrong when one of his professors at ITT Tech told him they had been paid a week early. Turns out, something was very wrong for the future of his college. Late last month, after years of investigations, the U.S. Department of Education forbade the ...
Nevada State College is growing fast and going places, president says: Thursday, Sept. 22, 2016; Since NSC opened in 2002, it has gone from a fledgling school teaching 177 students in a former vitamin factory to a college of 3,500 undergraduates with a foundation that recently annihilated a $10 million fundraising goal by raising nearly twice that amount.
CCSD teachers say they average $750 in out-of-pocket expenses annually for classroom: Friday, Sept. 16, 2016; Imagine a having a job in which it’s assumed that you will spend hundreds of dollars out of your own pocket annually for basic supplies and equipment ...
New med school, football complex part of a changing UNLV, Jessup says in annual speech: Thursday, Sept. 15, 2016; It's been a busy few months for the university and Jessup, about to come up on his second full year at UNLV. The school just received a $10 million gift from the Fertitta family to ...
Clark County School District overhaul gets final approval: Friday, Sept. 9, 2016; Starting next year, the Clark County School District as known will cease to exist. After a final review this morning, state legislators voted unanimously to approve a sweeping plan to ...
The secret world of Nellis: Inside the military marvel mere miles from the Las Vegas Strip: Sunday, Sept. 4, 2016; Nellis Air Force Base has a serious mission to train the best pilots and air crews in the world. But it’s also a bustling city within a city, with a complex covering thousands of acres and offering amenities ranging from …
$750M for a stadium? Here’s how that could aid education: Friday, Sept. 2, 2016; What if the public money proposed to help fund a new stadium funneled into the Clark County School District instead? If given to the Clark County School District, $750 million would amount to an extra $2,300 for every public school student. Here are a few other things …
School starts in Clark County amid familiar struggles, new bright spots: Tuesday, Aug. 30, 2016; Students headed back to class this week may not notice anything different, but this school year is a big one for the fifth largest district in the nation. For starters, it’s the first time ...
UNLV welcoming record number of freshmen to campus: Thursday, Aug. 25, 2016; It’s another record-breaking year for UNLV freshmen. About 4,000 first-year students will start classes next week, the largest incoming class in the school’s history. It’s the fifth straight year ...
Nevada students' ACT scores drop as participation rises: Wednesday, Aug. 24, 2016; Last year was the first year every Nevada junior took the ACT college readiness test, and that could have been the reason the scores were so bad. At least, that’s the conclusion reached by the ACT, who released its analysis of ...
'It is time for change': Legislators approve plan to overhaul CCSD: Tuesday, Aug. 16, 2016; Lawmakers put their finishing touches on an ambitious plan to reorganize the Clark County School District today, wrapping up nearly a year’s worth of planning that, if it passes legal muster, stands to ...