Education Forum Panelists January 13, 2016
Forum Panelist Bios (alphabetically):
Steve Canavero, Ph.D
Interim Superintendent of Public Instruction for the Nevada Department of Education (NDE) |
Steve Canavero, Ph.D., is serving as the Interim Superintendent of Public Instruction for the Nevada Department of Education (NDE), effective September 4, 2015. Steve recently served as the Deputy Superintendent of Student Achievement at NDE and was previously the first Director of the newly created State Public Charter School Authority. Steve brings years of experience working in public education at the state and local level. He has a background in evaluation and planning and worked as a teacher and principal. A graduate of Cal Poly San Luis Obispo with a degree in Ecology and Systematic Biology, Steve earned his M.Ed. and Ph.D. in Educational Leadership at the University of Nevada, Reno. When Steve is not working he along with his wife and two daughters can be found on a lake or ski hill – weather dependen
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Amanda Morgan, Esq.
Education Law Center of New Jersey |
Amanda Morgan oversees Education Law Center’s work in Nevada on school funding.
Previously, Amanda practiced civil rights law at the American Civil Liberties Union of Nevada, working on high-profile cases and advocacy related to the prevention of school violence and discrimination, protecting disability rights, access to appropriate sex education, and improving police practices. She has also worked as a child abuse advocate in the Nevada public schools and has acted as an educational surrogate for foster children with special education needs. Amanda earned a B.A. from the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, and a J.D. from the William S. Boyd School of Law at UNLV. She clerked at the Legal Aid Center of Southern Nevada, working in the special education advocacy division. Education Law Center; Founded in 1973, the Education Law Center (ELC) serves as the leading voice for New Jersey’s public school children and has become one of the most effective advocates for equal educational opportunity and education justice in the United States. Widely recognized for groundbreaking court rulings on behalf of at-risk students, ELC also promotes educational equity through coalition building, litigation support, policy development, communications, and action-focused research in New Jersey, in other states, and at the federal level. ELC’s legal and policy advocacy, which includes such landmark rulings as Abbott v. Burke, has significantly advanced the provision of fair school funding, high quality early education, safe and adequate school facilities, and school reform, especially to schools serving high concentrations of at-risk students and students with disabilities and other special needs. These successes have, in turn, resulted in strong academic gains and progress in closing student achievement gaps in New Jersey. |
Dr. Richard Stokes
Carson City School District Superintendent |
A native of Salmon, Idaho Richard began his career in education in 1987 as a high school science teacher in Lyman, Wyoming. After obtaining a graduate Degree from the University of Wyoming in school administration, Richard and his family moved from Wyoming to Hawthorne, Nevada in 1995 where he accepted a job as the Principal of Mineral County High School. Three years later he was hired as Mineral County School District’s Superintendent. In July of 2001, Richard accepted the job of Associate Superintendent of Human Resources in Carson City School District. In 2008 he was appointed as the Superintendent in Carson City’s public schools and holds that position today. Richard has served as the President of the Nevada Association of School Superintendents and was named Nevada’s 2014 Superintendent of the Year. Richard recently completed a one-year term as the Governor’s appointee to the State School Board and is active in working with state leaders on matters relevant to education.
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Jeff Zander
Elko County School District Superintendent |
Superintendent Jeff Zander is committed to high academic standards and achievement .He has been named the Nevada Association of School Administrators "Superintendent of the Year in 2014". Zander’s relationship with the Elko County School District began when he conducted audits for the district with Kafoury Armstrong & Co. The Elko County School District has approximately 953 full-time employees, 150 part-time employees, and 200 substitute teachers. Elko is the 3rd largest district in Nevada “Jeff is known throughout Elko County as someone who is friendly, open, and honest .... a person whom strangers can approach to talk about their issues, concerns, or problems with the district,”
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