School & District Management

Nev. Superintendent Lands on List of Suspect Travelers

By Jeff Archer — January 25, 2005 1 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

Carlos Garcia, the superintendent of the Clark County, Nev., public schools, wants everyone to know he is not a terrorist.

The head of the 281,000- student district that includes Las Vegas says he is trying to get federal officials to remove him from a list of people who must undergo additional security checks at airports.

Carlos Garcia

Mr. Garcia’s problems began in July, when he tried to get a boarding pass online from his home—a timesaver he had often used before. But the airline’s Web site denied the request. At the airport, he learned he’d been flagged by a new process that identifies people for further identification checks.

The same thing has happened about 10 times since then. In each case, he had to wait in line with passengers checking baggage or making changes in their plans.

“At first, I thought it was kind of funny, but it has lost its humor after a while,” Mr. Garcia said in a recent interview. He once missed his flight as a result.

Last summer, Sen. Edward M. Kennedy, D-Mass., said at a hearing in Washington that he had been wrongly detained several times at Boston’s Logan Airport because of his name, a situation that his office cleared up.

Mr. Garcia, in trying to solve the problem, has written to such federal agencies and officials as the Transportation Security Administration, the Department of Homeland Security, and Sen. Harry Reid, the Nevada Democrat who is now the minority leader of the U.S. Senate.

Last month, the TSA wrote back with a letter it said he could present at the airport—hardly a solution, Mr. Garcia argues, since it still requires that he wait in line.

Officials at the TSA, an arm of the Homeland Security Department, said this month that his name might resemble that of someone they have concerns about. Mr. Garcia notes there are 13 Carlos Garcias in the Las Vegas phone book alone. The agency is testing a computer system it says will reduce the need for people in his situation to speak with a ticket agent.

For now, Mr. Garcia worries about travel delays during the upcoming state legislative session in Carson City. “My generation grew up in the era of the Cold War and all those things that happened in the Soviet Union,” said the former civics teacher. “And now they’re happening here.”

Related Tags:

A version of this article appeared in the January 26, 2005 edition of Education Week as Nev. Superintendent Lands on List of Suspect Travelers

Events

Ed-Tech Policy Webinar Artificial Intelligence in Practice: Building a Roadmap for AI Use in Schools
AI in education: game-changer or classroom chaos? Join our webinar & learn how to navigate this evolving tech responsibly.
Education Webinar Developing and Executing Impactful Research Campaigns to Fuel Your Ed Marketing Strategy 
Develop impactful research campaigns to fuel your marketing. Join the EdWeek Research Center for a webinar with actionable take-aways for companies who sell to K-12 districts.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Privacy & Security Webinar
Navigating Cybersecurity: Securing District Documents and Data
Learn how K-12 districts are addressing the challenges of maintaining a secure tech environment, managing documents and data, automating critical processes, and doing it all with limited resources.
Content provided by Softdocs

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

School & District Management Fewer of Today's Superintendents Are at Retirement Age
A new survey of superintendents adds to what we know about the people who lead the nation's school districts.
4 min read
Conceptual illustration of money, salaries and data.
iStock/Getty
School & District Management 3 Tips to Help Districts Navigate Educator Layoffs
Keep cuts in line with the district's overarching goals, an expert advises.
3 min read
Illustration of scissors cutting row of paper dolls.
iStock / Getty Images Plus
School & District Management Teachers Hate All Those Meetings. Can Principals Find a Workaround?
Principals can't do away with every meeting, but they can reduce some and make others more effective.
4 min read
Image of a staff meeting.
E+/Getty
School & District Management Q&A When This Principal Talks About Mental Health, People Listen. Here's Why
The NASSP Advocacy Champion of the year said he used stories from his school and community to speak with his state’s legislators.
6 min read
Chris Young, a principal from Vermont, poses for a photo in front of a Senate office building in Washington, D.C.
Chris Young, a principal from Vermont, stands in front of a Senate office building in Washington on March 13, 2024. Young was among the secondary principals to meet with legislators urging them to keep federal funding for schools stable.
Olina Banerji/Education Week