A pastor and a teacher vie for school board

Some might call it irony, but tying together the two outspoken candidates for the District 3 seat of the Carson City School Board is former trustee Sheila Ward.

Four years ago, it was she who urged James Hukari, now 47, to put in his name last-minute for the seat. He ran unopposed.

It was also Ward who brought Joe Enge, 43, into the limelight recently when she promoted his claims the district was failing to meet state standards in history.

Now Hukari and Enge are challengers to fill one of four school board seats open this election.

"It's a very clear choice the folks of Carson City have," Hukari said. "They could vote for someone who loves public education and is passionate about it, or they can vote for somebody who has spent most of their life trying to undermine education."

Enge sees it differently.

"I'm a policy guy," he said. "I don't get into personalities."

Hukari has lived in Carson City for the past five years, coming from Yerington. He and his wife are foster parents and have one child attending Carson Middle School and another at Bordewich-Bray Elementary School.

"I think the most important issue (for the Carson City School District) is investing our resources in pre-kindergarten and all-day kindergarten options," he said. "If we're going to meet the goals set out by No Child Left Behind, we have to close the preparation gap. I think the biggest challenge we face is kids who are not prepared."

Hukari has a bachelor's degree in political science and a master's degree in divinity. He was previously a pastor for the Evangelical Free Church and once worked for a charter school in California. He started the volunteer chaplaincy program at the sheriff's department with Sheriff Kenny Furlong.

"My first career goal as a kid was to be a high school teacher," he said. "I think there's nothing more important, and I stress, nothing more important than public education. The most important thing we can do in this country is educate our kids, and the way that's done well in over 90 percent of the cases is through public education."

Enge has lived and taught in Carson City since 2001 after he returned from a two-year teaching stint overseas in Estonia. He was a history teacher at Carson High School.

Enge was publicly critical of the school district, saying state history standards were not being met. His contract was bought out in March by the school district with help from a federal mediator.

"Education is like peeling an onion," he said. "There are so many issues. There are three districts out of Nevada's 17 that failed to make adequate yearly progress. They are Carson, Washoe and Clark. (Carson's) district school improvement plan does not address the changes needed to get the Carson City schools out of needs improvement, the reason being it relies on teacher in-services or its Teach 4 Success program, which is questionable at best."

Enge is chairman of EdWatch Nevada, an education advocacy group, and a research fellow for the Nevada Policy Research Institute, a private think tank out of Las Vegas. He has a bachelor's degree in political science and completed post-graduate work in English and education. His daughter is a fifth-grader at Mark Twain Elementary School and his son attends kindergarten there. He attended Carson schools from 1972-78. He is a Fulbright teacher and a Madison Fellow.

"I developed a passion for history here in Carson," he said. "I discovered books in the library here in this school system and became enamored with history. I just fell in love with the subject. Then I decided after college to consider education."

• Contact reporter Maggie O'Neill at moneill@nevadaappeal.com or 881-1219.

Carson City School Board Elections

District 1:

• Norm Scoggin, running unopposed

District 3:

• James Hukari, incumbent

• Joe Enge

District 4:

• Bob Crowell, incumbent

• Ann Bednarski

District 6:

• Jeff Fontaine, incumbent

• Barbara Howe

• Roger Kirkland