Paul Aizley, a mathematics professor at UNLV, today announced that he will file next week for the Assembly District 41 seat currently held by David Parks. Parks has announced he will not run for re-election but will instead run for the State Senate.

Aizley and his wife Sari have lived in their neighborhood for the past 18 years. In addition to teaching math, Aizley has held a number of other positions at the University, including Dean of the Summer Term and Continuing Education and administrative assistant to two university presidents. He has also served as chair of the UNLV Faculty Senate.

Aizley said he is running for office because he believes practical solutions can be found to help alleviate problems confronting Assembly District 41 and the state as a whole. He pointed out that as a member of the Campus Public Safety Board, he worked with his colleagues to take common sense steps to improve safety at the university.

Aizley said he believes education can be improved by restructuring school administration and through more innovative teacher recruitment practices.

"As a math teacher, I have been concerned about math proficiency long before low test scores recently made the headlines," Aizley said. "I believe we have to be more creative in our administrative oversight of schools, and we must do more to recruit and retain the most highly qualified teachers, particularly in areas of teacher shortages."

Parks said he has known Aizley for a long time and believes he will be an outstanding legislator.

"Paul Aizley has a real commitment to improving our community," Parks said. "He is a tireless worker who believes in solving a problem rather than sitting around and talking about it."

In addition to his work in higher education, Aizley has been active in providing continuing educational opportunities to senior citizens. He founded UNLV's Center for Lifelong Learning for retired and semi-retired persons in Clark County. He also founded CLASS!, a newspaper by, for and about high school students.

Aizley has also been an advocate of fair banking practices. He is a former member of the Southern Nevada Reinvestment and Accountable Banking Committee and was a founding chair of the Nevada Fair Housing Center.