MINUTES OF THE meeting

of the

ASSEMBLY Committee on Education

 

Seventy-Second Session

February 10, 2003

 

 

The Committee on Educationwas called to order at 3:54 p.m., on Monday, February 10, 2003.  Chairman Wendell P. Williams presided in Room 3143 of the Legislative Building, Carson City, Nevada.  Exhibit A is the Agenda.  Exhibit B is the Guest List.  All exhibits are available and on file at the Research Library of the Legislative Counsel Bureau.

 

 

COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT:

 

Mr. Wendell P. Williams, Chairman

Mr. William Horne, Vice Chairman

Mr. Walter Andonov

Mrs. Sharron Angle

Mr. Kelvin Atkinson

Mrs. Vonne Chowning

Mr. Jason Geddes

Mr. Joe Hardy

Mrs. Ellen Koivisto

Mr. Garn Mabey

Mr. Mark Manendo

Mr. Bob McCleary

 

COMMITTEE MEMBERS ABSENT:

 

None

 

GUEST LEGISLATORS PRESENT:

 

None

 

STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT:

 

Carol Stonefield, Committee Policy Analyst

Linda Corbett, Committee Manager

Victoria Thompson, Committee Secretary

 

OTHERS PRESENT:

 

Rose McKinney-James, Legislative Representative, Clark County School District

            Tya Mathis, Education Committee Intern, junior at UNR

            June Rigsby, Taxation Committee Secretary

            Bill Fowler, Transportation Committee Secretary

 

 

Chairman Williams began the meeting by introducing the staff:  Linda Corbett, Committee Manager and Victoria Thompson, Committee Secretary.  Chairman Williams also introduced Carol Stonefield, Policy Analyst for the Education Committee.

 

Adoption of the Standing Rules of the Assembly Education Committee, Seventy-second Session, 2003, was the next order of business proposed by Chairman Williams.  All members received a copy before the meeting, giving them a chance to review the Standing Rules (Exhibit C).  Chairman Williams noted the only rule still causing some contention was the one that required male members of the Committee to keep their jackets on during the meeting.  Chairman Williams confirmed that this rule would remain.

 

ASSEMBLYMAN MANENDO MOVED TO APPROVE THE STANDING RULES AS DRAFTED.

 

ASSEMBLYMAN GEDDES SECONDED THE MOTION.

 

THE MOTION PASSED UNANIMOUSLY.

 

 

Roll was then called and Chairman Williams asked that Assemblywoman Chowning be marked present when she arrived.  He explained that, due to the fact this Committee met late in the afternoon, earlier meetings that ran late could cause members to be tardy for later meetings.

 

Chairman Williams then advanced to the matter of the Committee Brief, which Carol Stonefield, Policy Analyst, would present.

 

Mrs. Stonefield thanked the chairman and introduced herself as a Senior Research Analyst with the Research Division of the Legislative Counsel Bureau, affirming she will be the Policy Analyst for the Assembly Committee on Education this session.  She had prepared the Committee Policy Brief, which was distributed to all Committee members (Exhibit D).  Without reading the entire brief, she wished to highlight pertinent areas so Committee members would have an idea of issues important to the Committee last session, and issues which would be before the Committee at some point during this session.  She reminded the Committee that, as a member of the Research Staff in the Legislative Counsel Bureau, she was non-partisan and would neither advocate nor oppose any legislation that came before this Committee.  She explained that it was her purpose to answer questions from Committee members in the most objective manner possible.

 

Mrs. Stonefield began reviewing the Committee Brief by instructing members to look at page 1, which explained that jurisdiction for this Committee would be Title 34, Chapters 385 through 389, with the exception of Chapter 387, which was School Finance and typically went through the Ways and Means Committee.  On pages 2 through 5, she highlighted the legislation from the 2001 session which had come before this Committee; many of the issues related to school reform and accountability.  For those who were new to the Committee, she summarized the Nevada Education Reform Act (NERA) passed in 1997, articulating that it formed the foundation for school assessment and accountability by providing for the establishment of the Legislative Committee on Education and the Legislative Bureau of Education Accountability and Program Evaluation.  This legislation also included school improvement programs.  She mentioned that, in the intervening sessions, there had been a number of bills and measures to adjust the programs established by NERA.

 

Mrs. Stonefield went on to relate that, in 1997 the Legislature authorized charter schools, and legislation for charter schools came back session after session.  She noted that in 2001, the Legislature created the Regional Professional Development Program and suggested there would be legislation this session relating to this program, as well as in the post-secondary education area, because the Legislature last session considered the Uniform Athletes Agent Act. 

 

Mrs. Stonefield then apprised the Committee of two reports required by last session to be made to the 72^nd Legislature.  One related to a study of the participation and projected costs for the Millennium Scholarship; the other dealt with the organizational structure for community colleges that have 20,000 or more students, which applied at the time only to the Community College of Southern Nevada.

 

Specifically related to Clark County, Mrs. Stonefield informed the Committee of two other reports on elementary and secondary education.  One was a report to be made to this session of the Legislature on the pilot program to replace older schools.  The other report required Clark County School District to plan for the construction of smaller schools.  The Committee was due to receive both of these reports.

 

She included, on pages 5 through 9 of the brief, all the various reports that were required by statute to be made, either to the Legislature as a whole, or to the Legislative Committee on Education, and she volunteered to obtain copies of those reports for any who might be interested.

 

Mrs. Stonefield pointed out that significant issues for the 2003 session were listed on pages 10 through 14, with a variety of issues.  The biggest issue, she determined, would be the state’s efforts to comply with the federal mandate “No Child Left Behind”.  That BDR was not yet filed.  She reported the whole federal mandate was studied extensively by the Legislative Committee on Education throughout the interim, how it would impact assessment of students and how data was reported both to parents and to the federal government.  The mandate also required that all children in grades 3 through 8 be tested annually.  Mrs. Stonefield described this as a complex formula that:

 

• Required states to establish Adequate Yearly Progress and ways in which to measure this progress;
• Required that the state, the schools, and the school districts would provide assistance for schools that are in need of improvement;
• Provided for sanctions that would be applied to districts that failed to achieve Adequate Yearly Progress;
• Required that all children be taught by highly qualified teachers by the 2005-2006 school year;
• For the first time, required the licensing of educational para-professionals, those who were typically thought of as teacher’s aides.

 

Mrs. Stonefield informed the Committee that, due to this mandate, it would be necessary to go into Nevada licensing statutes and create a middle school license, which was not done in the past, and for which significant legislation would be coming before this Committee.

 

Mrs. Stonefield also described certain federal issues that would be in Congress this year:

 

• Reauthorization of the Higher Education Act, which largely controlled federal financial aid and provided financial assistance for teacher training programs;

 

• Reauthorization of the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA).

 

For the Committee members’ convenience, Mrs. Stonefield listed on pages 15 through 16 key contacts with the telephone numbers of those who could provide necessary information for Committee members.  She also described on page 19, a list of Web sites that answered various questions or provided links to other sites with possible answers.

 

The last issue brought up by Mrs. Stonefield was the schedule of deadlines.  She reminded the Committee that today was the last day for legislators to file BDRs and reported other significant dates were listed there for the Committee’s information.

 

Mrs. Stonefield concluded her remarks and informed the Committee she was available to respond to any individual research questions.  She also promised that, if the question was not in the area of education, she would relay that request to the Research Division and she would ensure the question was answered.

 

Chairman Williams asked if there were any questions from the Committee.  He spoke about the array of issues concerning education, both private and public, and explained that the only things not discussed in this Committee were issues of finance and funding, which were handled by the Ways and Means Committee.  He remarked that, on many occasions, bills would be referred concurrently to the Education Committee as well as the Ways and Means Committee.  He ascertained that the Education Committee would have the chance to debate on the policy and theory of these issues, while Ways and Means would have consideration on the funding.

 

Chairman Williams went on to reinforce the opportunity each member of the Committee had, when it came to K-12 private schools, home schools, or public schools, to impact the education process in the state and benefit Nevadans for a long time.

 

Chairman Williams then acknowledged certain members of the audience, such as the former Vice Chair of this committee, Ms. Bonnie Parnell, and the current State Superintendent of Schools, Dr. Jack McLaughlin, as well as the former State Superintendent of Schools, Mr. Eugene Paslov.

 

Chairman Williams asked Mrs. Stonefield if there were any other comments, and the answer was no.  He informed the Committee that on Wednesday, they would have one of the first statutory reports.  He asked Assemblyman Horne if he had any comments, and Mr. Horne replied that he had none at this time.

 

Chairman Williams inquired if there were any other issues to come before the Committee.  Assemblyman Manendo responded that it was a pleasure to serve on the Education Committee once again.  He then requested that folders for paperwork, such as the Standing Rules, be distributed to each member at the beginning of the meeting.  Chairman Williams replied that this would be done.  He then recognized Assemblyman Atkinson.

 

Mr. Atkinson revealed that Mr. Manendo gave out mugs; Assemblyman Collins and Assemblywoman Chowning gave out folders; but Chairman Williams promised this Committee would give out things with more of an intrinsic value, such as subcommittee assignments, which would go a lot further than materialistic items. 

 

Mrs. Chowning then commented that, having served on this Committee for several sessions and with years of hard work, it seemed this session would be one of the more daunting, challenging sessions.  She spoke about the challenge to the education community with all of the federal legislation that passed and reminded all that there are blue ribbon schools throughout the country on the failing list.  She wanted to make sure that, with all the challenges and mandates, our state’s children did not become so discouraged that success was not achievable.  She complimented everyone who played a part in the preparation, as she felt we were ahead of many states in preparing for the federal challenge.  She expressed regret that the Education Committee did not get the credit it was due and remarked that the Committee would put a “thumbprint” on future policy that would be meaningful for years to come.

 

Chairman Williams recognized that, along with the veterans on this committee, there were a lot of fresh, bright minds and all would “do good work”.  He asked the Committee for any other comments.

 

Mr. Horne responded there were a lot of new freshmen here this session, seven on this particular committee with himself being one of them.  He asked for patience and promised they would all do their best and work very hard.  He confirmed his belief that, with all the bright minds and Chairman Williams’ guidance, much would be accomplished this session.

 

Chairman Williams asked for public comment and recognized Rose McKinney-James, representing the Clark County School District.  Ms. McKinney-James expressed her delight to be here today and looked forward to working with the Education Committee.  She emphasized she had a team of individuals who would be working with the Committee; they would be happy to provide any resources necessary.  She agreed with Mrs. Chowning on challenges this session and hoped the Committee would view education as one of the most significant issues addressed this session. 

 

Chairman Williams inquired if there were any other questions or comments.  There were none, and he commented that there would be long evenings in the future and no reason to keep anyone unnecessarily.  Chairman Williams adjourned the meeting at 4:16 p.m..

 

 

RESPECTFULLY SUBMITTED:

 

 

 

                                                           

Victoria Thompson

Committee Secretary

 

 

APPROVED BY:

 

 

 

                                                                                         

Assemblyman Wendell P. Williams, Chairman

 

 

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