Achievement District executive appointed to lead charter school authority

Gov. Steve Sisolak has appointed Achievement School District Acting Director Rebecca Feiden as executive director of the Nevada State Public Charter School Authority.

Feiden is currently the acting director of the Achievement School District, a Nevada Department of Education initiative that takes low-performing schools within traditional public school districts and converts them into charter schools. There are currently four schools within the Achievement School District.

Prior to working at the Achievement School District, Feiden worked in Philadelphia for a charter management organization and taught math and science at both a charter school and district school.

Feiden begins her post April 16.

Feiden replaces Patrick Gavin, who resigned from his position late last year amid growing tensions between him and the charter school board. The charter school authority and board have found themselves under increased scrutiny over the past year. A proposed bill in the Legislature seeks to “pause” the acceptance of applications for new charter schools until the authority and board can work out oversight issues raised by legislators.

Meanwhile, the Legislature is considering abolishing the Achievement School District altogether. If that proposed bill passes, the four schools affected would have to find an alternate sponsor. The most likely candidate for them may be the charter school authority, which oversees the majority of the state’s charter schools.