Gov. Jim Gibbons last week proposed a program to eliminate collective bargaining by local government workers and school district employees, abolish the public’s right to elect the state board of education in favor of a politically appointed board, increase the number of children in classrooms, provide public funding for private school tuition, and make the state school superintendent appointed by and answerable to the governor instead of to the state school board.
Gibbons, who was the target of a federal investigation over his secret earmark for a crony while he was a member of Congress, also called for eliminating “special earmarks” in state government and consolidation of smaller county school districts. Other proposals were described only in vague language—“Streamline school funding and create LOCAL empowerment districts.” (The capitalization was in Gibbons’ original written statement.)