tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-86768106493016182412024-03-21T12:16:11.917-07:00Steven BrooksSteven Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321584289477842298noreply@blogger.comBlogger11125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8676810649301618241.post-42423296736011332332012-05-31T11:16:00.002-07:002012-05-31T11:16:21.416-07:00ASSEMBLY DISTRICT 17<br />
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Two first-time candidates are competing to be the Republican choice for Assembly District 17.</div>
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Len Marciano, a retired schoolteacher and administrator, faces Patrick Mendez, a state correctional officer.</div>
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Whoever comes out on top in the primary will advance to face Democrat Steven Brooks in the general election. Registered Democrats heavily outnumber Republicans in the district.</div>
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Marciano believes his life experience makes him the better candidate.</div>
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"I have a handle on the issues and the people of Nevada," he said.</div>
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Marciano has worked on several Republican campaigns in the district. If elected, he will apply his professional experience toward helping improve the state's education system, he said.</div>
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"In the short term, we need to hire excellent teachers and hold them accountable."</div>
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Hiring highly qualified teachers from out of state would help, as would creating more competition among schools and giving parents more choices over where their children get educated, he said.</div>
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He also advocates passing a moratorium on new fees for small businesses to help increase the local economy.</div>
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Marciano holds a bachelor's degree and a master's degree in educational supervision and administration from Seton Hall University. He attended Rutgers University for post graduate studies in educational literature.</div>
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Mendez, meanwhile, said Marciano's experience is too narrow.</div>
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"It seems like his platform is solely based on education," he said. "When you represent the entire district, you really have to focus on a lot of issues."</div>
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If elected, Mendez said he would focus on helping diversify Nevada's economy.</div>
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"You can't rely solely on gaming and mining to pay for everything."</div>
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Nevada could become a magnet for high-tech companies with the legalization of online poker, he said.</div>
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Mendez, who was an Army reservist for nine years, also wants to give special incentives to military veterans looking to start businesses in Nevada.</div>
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To encourage them and other entrepreneurs, he advocates "letting a business flourish" before collecting fees from them.</div>
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Mendez has been taking classes at the College of Southern Nevada and plans to eventually earn a degree in criminal justice.</div>Steven Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321584289477842298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8676810649301618241.post-64352558504036942942012-05-08T12:29:00.003-07:002012-05-08T12:29:29.928-07:00Nevada Conservation League - We need your help.<br />
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The Nevada Conservation League has been the political voice for Nevada's environmental community since 2002. Each election cycle, we endorse the candidates for state office that will make the protection of our air, land, water and wildlife a top priority.</div>
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We are proud to announce our endorsements for the 2012 election listed below. Each of these candidates either has a strong record on environmental issues or has proven through our interview process that they will place a high priority on protecting our state’s natural resources. These endorsements follow our early endorsements that were issued in March. Endorsements were not considered for candidates running unopposed.</div>
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Many of these races will be very competitive, in both the primary and general election. Please contact us if you’d like to help an NCL-endorsed candidate. Pro-environment candidates need our help and we need to support them to build a more pro-conservation legislature.</div>
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One race in particular warrants special attention. We have endorsed Patricia Spearman in Senate District 1. In the 2011 legislative session, Senator John Lee sponsored SB 271, a bill that will remove Nevada from the Tahoe Regional Planning Compact in four years. Senator Lee pushed this legislation through without working with anyone in the environmental community and showed that he is willing to sacrifice one of our nation’s great treasures to eliminate restrictions for developers. Ms. Spearman has demonstrated through our candidate interview process that she will be a strong champion for Nevada’s environment.</div>
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This election, the stakes couldn't be higher. If we are to expand renewable energy and conserve our public lands, wildlife and natural treasures, we need strong, effective representation in Carson City.</div>
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We need your help!</div>
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<a href="https://www.thedatabank.com/dpg/451/donate.asp?formid=donatec4"><span class="s1">Please click here to donate and support our efforts to build a pro-conservation majority in Carson City.</span></a></div>
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Thank you again for your support.</div>
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Sincerely</div>
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Kyle Davis, Nevada Conservation League Political Director</div>
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Endorsements follow:</div>
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<b><i>Senate</i></b></div>
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Patricia Spearman – Senate District 1</div>
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Tick Segerblom – Senate District 3*</div>
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Kelvin Atkinson – Senate District 4</div>
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Joyce Woodhouse – Senate District 5</div>
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Benny Yerushalmi – Senate District 6</div>
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David Parks – Senate District 7</div>
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Justin Jones – Senate District 9</div>
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Aaron Ford – Senate District 11</div>
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Debbie Smith – Senate District 13*</div>
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Sheila Leslie – Senate District 15*</div>
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Pete Goicoechea – Senate District 19</div>
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<b><i>Assembly</i></b></div>
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Peggy Pierce – Assembly District 3*</div>
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Jason Frierson – Senate District 8</div>
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Andrew Martin – Assembly District 9</div>
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Joe Hogan – Assembly District 10*</div>
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Olivia Diaz – Assembly District 11*</div>
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James Ohrenschall – Assembly District 12*</div>
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Maggie Carlton – Assembly District 14*</div>
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Elliot Anderson – Assembly District 15</div>
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Heidi Swank – Assembly District 16</div>
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Steven Brooks – Assembly District 17*</div>
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Richard Carrillo – Assembly District 18*</div>
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Ellen Spiegel – Assembly District 20</div>
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Lynn Stewart – Assembly District 22</div>
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David Bobzien – Assembly District 24*</div>
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Teresa Benitez-Thompson – Assembly District 27*</div>
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April Mastroluca – Assembly District 29*</div>
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Mike Sprinkle – Assembly District 30</div>
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Skip Daly – Assembly District 31*</div>
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James Healey – Assembly District 35</div>
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James Oscarson – Assembly District 36</div>
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Paul Aizley – Assembly District 41*</div>
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Irene Bustamante Adams – Assembly District 42</div>
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<i>*Indicates early endorsement.</i></div>Steven Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321584289477842298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8676810649301618241.post-39765378578539631942012-04-30T10:59:00.000-07:002012-04-30T11:01:45.635-07:00Assembly Steven Brooks speaks on the educational learning curve.<br />
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Learning curve</h1>
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Eleven years after it opened -- 11 years of turnover, turmoil and some unmet expectations -- Agassi Prep is still trying to get it right</h2>
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by AMY KINGSLEY</div>
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The cafeteria sits so close to the administrative offices at Agassi Prep that a well-aimed meatball could easily land with a thump in the middle of the conference table. But there were no meatballs -- and no food fights -- on a February morning at the charter school in West Las Vegas. Elementary students ate rice and beans. Only the high-pitched clatter of lunch trays and laughter penetrated the office of Chancellor Mike Piscal.<br />
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The layout of the school makes the cafeteria an essential stop on any tour that ends in Piscal's office. Although the students are reasonably well-behaved, the cafeteria itself is the site of a battle, according to Agassi spokesman Francisco Aguilar. The school is feuding with the Clark County School District and the federal government over regulations that disqualify Agassi Prep from receiving funds for the school lunch program. Because the school uses its own vendor, Nevada Partners, and doesn't get food from school district sources, it is not eligible for the program, which subsidizes lunches for low-income students. Instead, the Andre Agassi Foundation for Education has been picking up the tab to provide lunch for every student at the school.<br />
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In many ways, this is the least of its challenges. More than 10 years after it opened, Agassi Prep, one of the first charter schools in Nevada, and arguably the most high-profile, is still finding its way. The school serves students from kindergarten to 12th grade (it's arranged into elementary, middle and high schools), and graduated its first class in 2009. Like all public schools, it receives more than $6,000 per student from the state and county, and supplements that with private funding. During the last school year, Agassi Prep spent $11,069 to educate each of its 600 students.<br />
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"My impressions were that everyone wanted the school to be one of the best schools in the nation," Piscal said. "It hasn't all come together, and there is some frustration about that. But people still wanted to make it happen."<br />
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Piscal has been on the job for more than a year. He is the sixth person to lead the school since it opened in 2001. But high turnover is not restricted to the chancellor's office. Teachers, principals and staff come and go like visiting teams. Former teachers said the constant turnover creates a chaotic learning environment. Although the school has a high graduation rate and sends most of its graduates to college, it has had little success getting students into top-tier institutions, and many of its graduates attend community college.<br />
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Piscal wants to change that. The charter school veteran came to Agassi in January 2011. Not only is he trying to increase academic rigor, especially at the high-school level, he's also supervising an increase in enrollment that will almost double the student body.<br />
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He's already had some success staunching turnover at the high school and middle school. When he arrived, many positions were held by long-term substitutes. Some students had four or five teachers over the school year. Most of those subs have since been replaced by teachers who survived a rigorous interview process, Piscal said.<br />
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Just as he straightened out the high school, he faced an exodus of elementary teachers. Principal Jenny Tan, who turned the school into one of the best-performing in the valley, left for Denver. Several teachers left to start a new charter school in Las Vegas. Many others decided to stay home with families. Elementary students who returned to school this fall found only a few familiar faces.<br />
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"The middle and high school went through their suffering last year, and the elementary school is going through it this year," Piscal said.<br />
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The mission at Agassi Prep is as lofty as the building itself, a contemporary amalgam of schools that embody the various stages of learning. Tennis star Andre Agassi wanted the school to offer a top-notch education to traditionally underserved students. So he plunked it down in one of the neediest communities in the valley, a neighborhood of public housing projects, low-income families and single-parent households.<br />
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Agassi Prep was one of the first charter schools in Southern Nevada, and it started with some advantages over other charters. Many independent schools struggle to raise enough money for facilities. But Agassi Prep had the backing of a famous athlete, and a fundraising juggernaut in the annual Grand Slam for Kids. Not only could it afford a school, it could afford one of the finest school buildings in the valley. The facilities include a university-style lecture hall, fully-equipped science and computer labs and a solar array that provides half the energy.<br />
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But a building isn't enough. The school's board sought out one of the area's most respected educators to get the school off the ground.<br />
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"We knew that certain kids were more highly impacted in terms of education," said Wayne Tanaka, the first principal at Agassi Prep. "There are five qualities that you might find in a student. One is low income. Two is single parent. Three is low levels of parental education. The fourth is the neighborhood environment. The fifth is language difference, having a non-English base. If a student has three out of the five, then a kid is at risk. They found a lot of those risk factors in this neighborhood, and that's where they decided to build it."<br />
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Tanaka was with the school for three years. Then the veteran educator decided to retire, again. He was followed by Kim Allen. Her tenure was fraught with high staff turnover and problems with regulators, who cited the school for having too many unlicensed teachers. Tensions with parents boiled over in heated board meetings.<br />
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Brian Thomas replaced Allen in 2004. He was followed by Jerome Meyers, who was replaced by Marsha Irvin, who came to Agassi Prep from the Clark County School District in 2008. They had different titles -- executive director, CEO, chancellor -- but all of them had the same job: to guide the school as it grew from three grades to 13.<br />
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According to former teachers, the frequent changes in administration led to staff turnover.<br />
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"A school is not the walls," Tanaka said. "A school is the educators within the building and the parents and the kids themselves."<br />
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Teachers at Agassi Prep have one-year contracts, and several of them said those contracts weren't renewed when new administrators came in. It wasn't just administrators who brought new staff. Changes on the Agassi foundation board and the school board often brought changes in the classroom. Roy Parker, who worked as an elementary, middle and high school principal, said turnover was incessant.<br />
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"It was a revolving door almost," Parker said. "That makes it difficult for a school to chart a course."<br />
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Not only did it make it difficult to carry out the mission, former teachers said student discipline suffered as a result. Students in the middle and high school often felt like they'd be around longer than their principals, and acted accordingly, teachers said.<br />
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Assemblyman Steven Brooks taught at Agassi in 2007 and 2008. He said student misbehavior often went unpunished. One student in particular never suffered any consequences for overturning a desk during an argument. Students would defy the dress code and write on lockers and bathrooms, he said. Another former teacher said students openly traded prescription drugs in class. Infractions like these happen at any high school, but Agassi administrators never established a formal punishment system because they were too busy learning on the job.<br />
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"Overall, the problem with Agassi is that they keep bringing in people from other states to take care of our children," Brooks said.<br />
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Chris Caballero, a security guard at the school from 2004 to 2009, said some students treated the school like their home. They would have pizzas delivered to classrooms. Wander off campus. He even caught students having sex in the building.<br />
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"The kids run the school," Caballero said. "The lifespan of the average Agassi employee is one year."<br />
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John Bailey, chair of the governing board, downplayed concerns about the turnover at Agassi. He said the school has an average amount of turnover for an independent school. The difficult economy in Las Vegas may have made things a little harder for the school, as teachers' spouses often had to move out of state to find work. The long school day also discourages teachers from staying, Piscal said. Teachers at Clark County schools usually get off work by 3 p.m., but Agassi teachers stay until 4. When teachers have children in Clark County schools, they often find it easier to transfer to a regular school so they don't have to find child care in the afternoon.<br />
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Many of the former teachers who spoke to <i style="margin-bottom: 0px; margin-left: 0px; margin-right: 0px; margin-top: 0px; padding-bottom: 0px; padding-left: 0px; padding-right: 0px; padding-top: 0px;">CityLife</i> did not leave voluntarily. One of the teachers who did only did so after administrative changes stripped him of his authority and left him worried about his future at the school.<br />
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"Every two years, there's been a different person at the top," he said. "Any time there were changes, that would affect staffing, and the majority of the staff has been released."<br />
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If you look at old faculty directories, only about 10 names remain from 2008.<br />
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Carol Foster, an assistant principal at the high school from 2006 to 2008, said the kids at Agassi need teachers and administrators who are dependable and permanent. Many of the students come from unstable homes, and they need structure and reliability somewhere in their lives, she said.<br />
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"The children need adults in the end to be there for an extended period of time to build trust," she said. "Agassi doesn't really assist in that effort. When there is high turnover, that doesn't happen."<br />
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Not everyone thinks high turnover is a problem. The school has always had teachers on one-year contracts, unlike teachers in regular schools, who are difficult to remove after a probationary period. Most independent schools use one-year contracts, Parker said. Josh Lyphout, a Teach for America grad and science teacher at Agassi Prep for the last four years, said the school has about the same amount of turnover as other charter schools.<br />
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"A lot of teachers start at a charter school thinking they are going to have the same work load as any other kind of school," Lyphout said. "Then they find out they have to wear a lot more hats at a charter school. They just get burned out."<br />
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Despite the high turnover, students perform well on standardized tests. Both the elementary and middle schools have received the highest ranking under No Child Left Behind. All the schools have performed at least adequately on standardized tests. That's better than neighboring public schools, although Agassi has an advantage in that it teaches fewer English language learners and special education students.<br />
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The goal at Agassi has always been to have the best teachers, not necessarily the longest-serving. What's the point of keeping a teacher, even one liked by students, if he or she doesn't get results?<br />
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That is what Piscal was hired to do. The high school has had three graduating classes and sent dozens of students to college. But it still isn't preparing them as well as it could be. The intent of the school, from the very beginning, was to provide an elite education to the neediest students in the valley. To compete academically with the top private schools in the valley. Students do well on the standardized tests that measure basic competence. In 2005, the middle school earned the only exemplary rating in Clark County under No Child Left Behind. The elementary school got the same rating two years later. In 2009, all three school received high-achieving status.<br />
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Students at Agassi have not done as well on Advanced Placement tests that earn college credit. Students in three graduating classes have taken a total of 37 AP tests and passed only four of them. The school has gradually added AP classes. It started with one in 2009 and now offers six. Students will take 59 tests this year, almost three times as many as last year.<br />
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Piscal started his teaching career at the Harvard-Westlake School in Los Angeles, one of the nation's top private schools. He taught English to the children of celebrities and learned about the art of teaching from veteran faculty. Then, in 1992, riots broke out after police officers were acquitted in the beating of Rodney King. He began to think about how he could take that experience and make a positive difference in the lives of at-risk children. Inspired by Spike Lee, who used credit cards to finance his first film, Piscal put his first summer program on plastic. He called it the Inner City Education Foundation.<br />
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After a few years, he opened View Park Elementary School. Eventually, students at that school, who were almost all low-income and African-American, would outperform their peers at schools all over the state. View Park became one of the best schools in California. Almost 80 percent of students scored proficient in language arts on standardized tests. The results on math tests were almost as good. And it happened in a community where fewer than 10 percent of students earn college degrees.<br />
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"At View Park we closed the achievement gap," Piscal said. "On English tests, we scored as high as white students in suburban schools."<br />
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But as ICEF added middle schools, high schools and more elementary schools, the organization struggled to replicate View Park Elementary's success. Proficiency rates on the most recent round of standardized tests hover between 40 and 50 percent at most ICEF schools.<br />
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Piscal said the real success of his schools is measured by students who attend and graduate from top schools. His schools have sent students to the best schools in the country, and almost all of them are on track to graduate on time.<br />
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Piscal left ICEF in 2010. He resigned during a financial crisis that started when California slashed funding to charter schools. Piscal said he resigned to save his schools. Former Los Angeles Mayor Richard Riordan bailed out the ICEF schools and tried to merge them with another charter. Piscal's resignation preserved their independence.<br />
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Now he wants to bring the ICEF system to Agassi Prep. He has already beefed up the AP offerings, and joined a program that sends high school students to prestigious universities for the summer. While he and his staff focus on adding more rigor to the curriculum, they will also brace for a flood of new students. The high school is doubling its size.<br />
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That growth may make it more difficult for Piscal to tighten up the academic standards. Parker blamed the school's rapid growth for some of the problems with turnover and administration.<br />
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"It was a school that grew really quickly," Parker said. "It needed more infrastructure and support. I've been in education for 30 years, and I never heard faculty and staff say there wasn't enough administration until I came to Agassi."<br />
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But Piscal thinks the school needs to grow in order to add enough AP classes and electives to prepare students for college. Right now, there just aren't enough teachers to make that happen.<br />
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Former employees have seen this before, a new leader with an ambitious vision. Unfortunately, most of them don't stay long enough to see it work. Unless Piscal can show results immediately, a volatile board might show him the door. Or he might choose to leave on his own.<br />
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"He's got a plan, and it sounds good," said one. "But he's got two years to make it happen."</div>
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Last updated on Wednesday, March 14, 2012 at 11:55 pm</div>Steven Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321584289477842298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8676810649301618241.post-49188894202889276242012-04-27T14:32:00.005-07:002012-04-27T14:32:57.788-07:00Alpha Phi Alpha Honors Steven Brooks<br />
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<b>Alpha Phi Alpha Honors Steven Brooks<o:p></o:p></b></div>
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Assemblyman <b>Steven
Brooks</b> joined four other leading Nevadans in receiving top awards from
Alpha Phi Alpha, the nation’s oldest black fraternity.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Brooks, who is a member of Alpha Phi Alpha, received the
fraternity's Award of Merit during the group’s 64th Western Regional Convention
held recently in Las Vegas.<o:p></o:p></div>
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“To be honored by my fraternity, with its 105-year
commitment to public service, humbles and inspires me,” said Brooks, who also
belongs to Theta Pi Lambda, the Alpha Phi Alpha alumni chapter in Las Vegas.<o:p></o:p></div>
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Supreme Court Justice Michael Douglas, state Sen. Steven
Horsford, and Las Vegas Councilman Ricki Barlow received Awards of Merit as
well. Clark County Assistant Sheriff Greg McCurdy was recognized with the Award
of Honor.<o:p></o:p></div>
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The awards, which recognize community involvement, are among
the highest the fraternity can bestow.<o:p></o:p></div>Steven Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321584289477842298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8676810649301618241.post-79777238824848361852012-04-21T14:03:00.000-07:002012-04-21T14:03:07.074-07:00It's About Results<div style="text-align: justify;">
In 2010 voters elected Brooks to the Nevada Assembly, giving him 62 percent of the vote in a three-way contest to represent the northeast Las Vegas Valley.</div>
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While serving on the Transportation, Judiciary and Health and Human Services committees, Brooks helped pass bills promoting green energy while protecting consumers (<a href="http://www.leg.state.nv.us/Session/76th2011/Bills/AB/AB441.pdf">Assembly Bill 441</a>), providing employment opportunities for Nevada residents on state-funded public works projects (<a href="http://www.leg.state.nv.us/Session/76th2011/Bills/AB/AB144.pdf">AB 144</a>) and a bill that ensured Nevada received its fair share of funding for vital Health and Human Services and energy programs (<a href="http://www.leg.state.nv.us/Session/76th2011/Bills/AB/AB172.pdf">AB 172</a>).</div>
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Brooks is asking voters in Assembly District 17 to return him to Carson City in the 2012 elections.</div>Steven Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321584289477842298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8676810649301618241.post-75164708954265121932011-09-19T13:12:00.001-07:002011-09-19T13:12:34.701-07:00A new school year—how you can get involvedDear Neighbor,<br />
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A new school year has begun, with excitement and anticipation. We all have a stake in the quality of education. Good schools are key to our kids’ future and to the future of our state.<br />
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I have heard frequently from constituents—parents and teachers—that one real problem in these bad economic times is the high cost of school supplies. Parents without a job or with other financial problems may find it difficult to purchase everything their children need for school. Teachers are buying supplies for their students out of their own pockets.<br />
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Last month, I partnered with several community organizations to host a “Back to School Fair,” where families could get free backpacks and school supplies. It was a great time and very well attended. We were able to give out over 500 backpacks to students in our community.<br />
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All students benefit from family involvement in their education. Sometimes it is hard for a parent, grandparent, or other family member to know how to best help a student they love. This past session, we passed legislation to provide our schools new resources to more effectively reach out to families. <br />
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There are plenty of ways families can get involved; below are links to several websites that are good resources. For those with children in Clark County schools, the CCSD website is particularly helpful. <br />
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Clark County School District— http://www.ccsd.net/. Click on "Parents."<br />
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Nevada State Parent Information and Resource Center (PIRC)--http://www.nevadapirc.org/.<br />
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Parent Teacher Association— http://www.pta.org/, click on "Topics" and then on "Student Success."<br />
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Business leaders and everyone in of the community can also get involved-- http://ccsd.net/partnership<br />
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Jobs and Economic Development<br />
During the last session of the legislature, we passed several measures to help create jobs—now and for the future. These new jobs are beginning to come on line, with more to come in the next few months.<br />
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AB 144, “Nevada Jobs First,” is beginning to generate jobs and will have an immediate, positive impact on our economy. This legislation provides a bidder’s preference for businesses that hire Nevada workers and buy Nevada products. Experts say that for every dollar spent under this legislation, $1.47 will be generated back into the economy. In my next newsletter, I will provide more details on how this legislation is working.<br />
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Keeping you informed<br />
I believe one of my most important responsibilities as an elected official is constituent outreach—to listen to your concerns and ideas and to keep you updated on legislative activities. Below is the best way to reach me.<br />
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By phone— 702-232-3892<br />
By email— vote@brooks4assemblydistrict19.com<br />
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Sincerely,<br />
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Steven<br />
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If you do not want to receive my regular email newsletters, please reply to this email and I will take you off the list. <br />
Not produced at taxpayer expense.Steven Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321584289477842298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8676810649301618241.post-43033214753910368372011-07-15T10:58:00.000-07:002011-07-15T10:58:26.796-07:00FYI ReformsEducation --AB 220, AB 222, AB 224, AB 225, AB 229, AB230, AB 233, SB 197:<br />
• Extends probationary status of teachers from one to three years <br />
• Requires—for the first time--- probationary status and evaluations of school administrators to hold principals and other school administrators accountable for their performance <br />
• Establishes a pay-for-performance system for teachers and principals<br />
• Makes it easier to dismiss an educator for egregious misconduct<br />
• Establishes a Teachers and Leaders Council to reform the educator evaluation system, using a four-tier process rather than a simple satisfactory/unsatisfactory standard<br />
• Requires reporting on number of teachers, administrators and support staff in each district and school<br />
• Revises the criteria for decisions about layoffs of educators to include more than seniority <br />
• Requires 50% of an educator’s evaluation to be based on student achievement <br />
• Requires that criteria for an alternative route to license be established to broaden the scope of professionals who can be hired to teach in today’s classrooms <br />
• Gives the governor the authority to appoint the Superintendent of Public Instruction from a list submitted by the State Board of Education, with the superintendent then reporting to the governor<br />
• Changes the State Board of Education from a totally elected body to one in which four of the voting members are elected by congressional district and three voting members are appointed<br />
• Gives school districts flexibility in helping students who are credit deficient to catch up and graduate, while requiring them to meet rigorous standards<br />
• Improves parental involvement by coordinating and sharing effective strategies to better communicate with parents and engage them in their children’s education, and creates an office of parental involvement within the Department of Education<br />
• Encourages the Nevada System of Higher Education to examine and revise programs and services on each campus to maximize cost savings and efficiencies<br />
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Jobs/Economic Development ---AB 144, AB 182, AB 183 (incorporated into SB 506), AB 449:<br />
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• Establishes a bidder’s preference for companies that hire Nevada workers and purchase materials locally to keep jobs funded with taxpayer dollars in our state<br />
• Reorganizes Nevada’s economic development efforts to bring together existing businesses, state and local government, and higher education to attract new high-tech industries to our state<br />
• Authorizes inland ports, geographic areas created by city or county government to accelerate the creation of new jobs and investment through an emphasis on a logistics supply chain<br />
• Reduces the reserve required in school district bond accounts so that more funding can be used for rehabilitation of old schools, creating more construction jobs as schools are repaired.<br />
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Government Efficiency, Transparency and Accountability --AB 1, AB 240, AB 242, AB 276, AB 248, AB 404, SB 251(includes language originally in AB 474):<br />
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• Requires long-term planning by state agencies and performance-based budgeting resulting in setting of priorities, improvement of existing programs and elimination of programs not producing results<br />
• Requires the periodic review of state boards and agencies to determine those that should be eliminated, consolidated or changed to make them work more efficiently<br />
• Further limits the use of expensive consultants by state government and requires more accountability for all government contracts<br />
• Provides more accountability for leasing or buying of state property<br />
• Establishes a website on state spending<br />
• Requires greater transparency from state agencies and boards on taxes collected and owed, tax abatements, and leases<br />
• Requires greater accountability for spending from nonprofits that receive state spending<br />
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Health care (AB 146, AB 280)<br />
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• Improves services offered by the Consumer Health Assistance Office by authorizing the director to develop procedures for mediation of disputes between patients and health care providers<br />
• Requires medical facilities to develop and adopt safety checklists for health care providers<br />
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Foreclosures (AB 273, AB 284)<br />
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• Protects homeowners who got their initial loan from more than one lender from deficiency judgments on the secondary lien if they are living in home and it is not an investment<br />
• Tightens requirements for recording deeds of trust to protect homeowners from mortgage fraud<br />
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PERS (AB 405) – Authorizes an objective $500,000 study, with $250,000 paid by the state and $250,000 paid by donations from businesses. The study would only occur upon a sufficient business donation match<br />
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PEBP (AB 553) – State employees hired on or after January 1, 2011 would not be eligible for a health insurance subsidy from the state when they retire. The retirement subsidy will continue for current state employees; and the subsidy for active employees will not be affected.<br />
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Chapter 288—Collective bargaining (SB 98):<br />
• Subjects of mandatory bargaining under 288.150 must include instances of fiscal emergency that may permit local governments to re-open contracts.<br />
• “Supervisory employees” as defined under 288.075 (supervisors who hire and fire), civil attorneys and physicians/doctors employed by local governments cannot collectively bargain.<br />
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Bills Vetoed by the governor that we will continue to pursue<br />
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Among the 27 bills vetoed by the governor, were the following--<br />
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• to help Nevadans in jeopardy of foreclosure stay in their homes by strengthening our loan modification program (AB 300)<br />
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• to require schools in high-poverty areas to provide free school breakfasts for all students, funded by federal dollars (AB 137)<br />
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• to help Nevadans make better health care decisions by requiring more accountability from the health insurance industry for their rates and policies (AB 309)<br />
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• to require those who work with young children in licensed child care facilities to have additional training in early childhood education (AB 546)Steven Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321584289477842298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8676810649301618241.post-56384416956413197192011-07-15T10:54:00.001-07:002011-07-15T10:56:10.025-07:00June News Letter To My ConstitutesDear Friend-<br />
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The 76th Nevada legislative session has now ended. We were able to conclude our business on time, with a balanced budget that prevented the very worst proposed cuts to education and essential state services. We enacted policies to spur job growth and help small businesses, reforms to education, and more transparency and accountability for state government. <br />
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Faced with the worst budget deficit in the nation with a 54% shortfall, we had no choice to make painful cuts. We were able, however, to come together—Democrats and Republicans from throughout the state—to forge a compromise budget that sustains K-12, higher education, services for our elderly and children, and other essential services. <br />
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Education ---K12 and higher education<br />
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While cuts were made, we were able to fund education—our public schools, colleges and universities-- at a substantially higher level than that originally proposed by the governor. (Can add some specifics here)<br />
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(To be customized based on which bills individual caucus members supported) We passed a package of significant reforms to improve the quality of education in our state. These reforms were developed after months of discussions with business leaders, education experts, school officials, teachers, parents and other elected officials. Our reforms--<br />
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• Establish a new Teachers and Leaders Council to improve our current educator evaluation system, using a four-tier process rather than a simple satisfactory/unsatisfactory standard. <br />
• For the first time, include school principals and other school administrators in the evaluation process and probationary status to hold them accountable for their role in improving student achievement. <br />
• Increase the probationary status of teachers from one to three years and require post-probationary educators to go back on probationary status if they receive two consecutive years of unsatisfactory evaluations. <br />
• Expedite the process for dismissing educators for egregious misconduct<br />
• Require the criteria for teacher lay-offs to include more than seniority<br />
• Establish a pay-for-performance system to reward teachers and principals who improve student achievement. <br />
• Require the reporting of the number of teachers, administrators and support staff in each school and district to better help us determine if there is too much bureaucracy in our education system. <br />
• Encourage the Nevada System of Higher Education to examine and revise programs and services on each campus to maximize cost savings and efficiencies<br />
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Jobs/Economic Development <br />
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With our continuing record unemployment, nothing is more important that getting Nevadans back to work. While there have been indications of economic growth in the past few months, we took steps to immediately create jobs for Nevada workers, to help small businesses recover and to plan for a long-term restructuring of our economy so we never find ourselves in such a dire economic situation again.<br />
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• To help get Nevadans get back to work, we established a bidder’s preference for companies that hire Nevada workers and purchase materials locally. AB 144 will help keep taxpayer dollars in Nevada. <br />
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• AB 449 looks to our future economic growth by completely reorganizing Nevada’s economic development efforts to bring together existing businesses, state and local government, and higher education to attract new high-tech industries to our state. <br />
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• We allowed school districts to reduce the amount required in their bond reserve accounts so monies can be used right away for school rehab, creating construction jobs as old schools are repaired and refurbished. <br />
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• We eliminated the modified business tax on payroll for about 70% of Nevada’s small businesses. <br />
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Government Efficiency, Transparency and Accountability <br />
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We took steps to make our state government more efficient, transparent and accountable to taxpayers.<br />
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• AB 248 requires long-term planning by state agencies and implements performance based budgeting. <br />
• SB 251 requires the review of state boards and commissions so we can consolidate for efficiency and get rid of any that are not producing results.<br />
• AB 240 further limits the use of outside consultants and requires more accountability for all state contracts.<br />
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Health Care <br />
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We passed measures to help Nevadans make wise health care decisions to reduce the cost of medical care and ensure greater patient safety.<br />
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• AB 148 strengthens the Nevada Health Assistance Office, helping them to better arbitrate disputes between patients and health care providers.<br />
• AB 280 requires medical facilities to establish “safety checklists” that health care providers must follow. These checklists have dramatically reduced the level of infections and other problems in hospitals in other states. <br />
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Foreclosures <br />
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While we took steps last session to reduce the number of foreclosures in our state, too many Nevadans are still losing their homes or are in jeopardy of foreclosures, We passed legislation to further crack down on mortgage fraud and to help protect Nevadans in jeopardy of losing their home. We are disappointed that the governor vetoed a measure to help us improve our foreclosure modification program to help reduce the number of foreclosures. We will carefully monitor the progress of this critical program and will offer reforms next session.Steven Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321584289477842298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8676810649301618241.post-69979412320199044402011-04-14T08:03:00.001-07:002011-04-14T08:03:39.374-07:00Bill advances requiring businesses to post signs on smokingCARSON CITY – Assemblyman Jason Frierson, D-Las Vegas, said he saw a poster in a men’s restroom recently warning of the dangers of smoking during pregnancy.<br />
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So he doesn’t see any harm in requiring businesses that sell cigarettes to post a sign cautioning pregnant women about those same dangers.<br />
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Frierson and other Assembly members voiced their support for a bill before the Assembly Health and Human Services Committee, which approved the measure on Wednesday.<br />
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Assemblywoman Peggy Pierce, D-Las Vegas, the sponsor of Assembly Bill 170, said the March of Dimes is going to print 2,000 posters and distribute them to the Southern Nevada and the Washoe health districts.<br />
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The only two dissenting votes were cast by Mark Sherwood, R-Henderson, and Pete Livermore, R-Carson City. Sherwood said there were already existing remedies cautioning pregnant women about cigarette smoking.<br />
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Livermore said this was placing a “consequence” on merchants who are having a tough time keeping their stores open now.<br />
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But Assemblyman Steven Brooks, D-Las Vegas, said everything should be done to prevent health problems. He said it would be better to spend a couple hundred dollars on the front end instead of several thousand dollars treating resulting medical problems.<br />
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“This will give people a heads-up,” he said.<br />
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Existing law requires restaurant and bars to post signs warning of the dangers of drinking alcohol during pregnancy. The current law requires businesses that sell tobacco products to prominently display a sign that the sale of cigarettes and tobacco products to minors is prohibited by law.<br />
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At the committee hearing, a representative of the retailer industry took a neutral position on the bill, which now goes to the floor of the Assembly.Steven Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321584289477842298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8676810649301618241.post-5136644813946101322010-04-12T14:19:00.000-07:002011-04-12T14:21:43.088-07:00Press Releases<strong>LATINO DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS, A DEMOCRATIC CAUCUS CHARTERED BY </strong><br />
<strong><br />
THE CLARK COUNTY DEMOCRATIC PARTY.</strong><br />
<strong>The Latino Based Group Sí Se Puede Straw-Poll</strong> <br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 548px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td colspan="4" nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="377"></td> <td colspan="2" nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="171"></td> </tr>
<tr> <td colspan="3" nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="306"></td> <td colspan="2" nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="139"></td> <td width="103"></td> </tr>
<tr> <td colspan="2" nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="271"><strong>Nevada Assembly District 19</strong></td> <td colspan="4" width="278"></td> </tr>
<tr> <td nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="233">Steven Brooks (D) </td> <td nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="38">59%</td> <td colspan="4" width="278"></td> </tr>
<tr> <td nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="233">Mehgan Smith (D) </td> <td nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="38">29%</td> <td colspan="4" width="278"></td> </tr>
<tr> <td nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="233">Scott Hafen (D) </td> <td nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="38">9%</td> <td colspan="4" width="278"></td> </tr>
<tr> <td nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="233">Brandon Casutt (D)</td> <td nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="38">3%</td> <td colspan="4" width="278"></td> </tr>
<tr> <td nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="233">Piange B. Jackson (D) </td> <td nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="38">0%</td> <td colspan="4" width="278"></td> </tr>
</tbody></table><br />
<strong>STRAW POLL RESULTS: STONEWALL DEMOCRATS RELEASE RESULTS OF 2ND STRAW POLL ELECTION</strong><br />
<strong>A new board was elected (results below) and we conducted our 2ndStraw Poll Election for the 2010 mid-terms.</strong><br />
<table border="0" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" style="width: 271px;"><tbody>
<tr> <td colspan="2" nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="271"><strong>Nevada Assembly District 19</strong></td> </tr>
<tr> <td nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="233">None</td> <td nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="38">33%</td> </tr>
<tr> <td nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="233">Steven Brooks (D) </td> <td nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="38">28%</td> </tr>
<tr> <td nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="233">Mehgan Smith (D) </td> <td nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="38">18%</td> </tr>
<tr> <td nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="233">Brandon Casutt (D)</td> <td nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="38">9%</td> </tr>
<tr> <td nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="233">Scott Hafen (D) </td> <td nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="38">9%</td> </tr>
<tr> <td nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="233">Piange B. Jackson (D) </td> <td nowrap="" valign="bottom" width="38">3%</td> </tr>
</tbody></table>Steven Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321584289477842298noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-8676810649301618241.post-87960954496586643302010-04-12T14:09:00.000-07:002011-04-12T14:22:13.339-07:00Luz Community Development Coalition<p><strong>Luz Community Development Coalition Honors Steven Brooks with “Spirit of Cesar Chavez Award”</strong> <br />
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LAS VEGAS – March 31, 2010 – The Luz Community Development Coalition (LCDC) held the first annual Cesar Chavez Awards Gala at the South Point Hotel and Casino on March 27, 2010. “Spirit of Cesar Chavez Awards” were presented along with Senatorial and Congressional Certificates of Recognition by U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Congresswoman Dina Titus and Congresswoman Shelly Berkley. One of the honorees was Steven Brooks, Chairman of the Board of Directors for the Las Vegas Urban League. <br />
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Brooks is a community servant and is currently on hiatus from local government to embrace his community through candidacy for Assemblyman District 19. <br />
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Brooks was presented with the “Spirit of Cesar Chavez, Community Award” for creating jobs and support for equal rights and equal pay for all employees. Brooks, who was nominated to the Board of the Las Vegas Urban League in 2008 and helped restructure the organization into Nevada’s largest public action agency, was recognized among notable individuals in business and government, including Nevada Senator and U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, Assemblyman Ruben Kijuen, Assemblyman Moises “Mo” Denis and Findlay Toyota General Manager/Owner Rich Abajian. <br />
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Active in the community, Brooks currently serves on the Community Land Trust Board (CLT), Hispanic Art Museum Board and is a former founding member of the Southern Nevada Enterprise Community Board (SNEC). Brooks, a Democrat, recently launched his campaign for Assembly District 19.</p>Steven Brookshttp://www.blogger.com/profile/05321584289477842298noreply@blogger.com0