Mathematically Impossible

If I were doing a statistical analysis of what the probabilities and even the possibilities are that nine totally incompetent people could come together to set policy for an institution as important as the Clark County School District, I’m sure I’d give up my profession when I learned that the statistical analysis would show that getting together that particular combination of people is mathematically impossible.

Return His Phone Calls

State Superintendent Guthrie seems to have run into the same problem that all of us interested in K through 12 education have.  He can’t get the Clark County School Board chairwoman, Carolyn Edwards, to return his phone calls.  It’s not that Carolyn refuses to return those phone calls because she believes that she alone with that group of other idiots on the school board can save Clark County school system from extinction.  Carolyn’s refusal to talk to Guthrie is more likely to be the result of her fear that Guthrie will find out that she is merely an empty suit.

...help Clark County schools

Elaine Wynn is rich beyond belief, exceedingly talented and certainly very bright.  She outdoes me in all three areas.  It may be that I’m not smart enough to understand her approach to solving education’s problems, but I believe that without an ability to gather a multitude of people together, even Elaine won’t be able to help Clark County schools.

Guthrie & Wynn

State Superintendent Guthrie tells me he’s selected Elaine Wynn as his savior of Clark County Education.  I hope he’s not expecting too much.  Elaine is a super-star, but unfortunately is a one-man-band who believes she alone can do it all.  She may be right.

Jim Guthrie

I was visited by State Superintendent of Education Jim Guthrie.  He’s the first superintendent I’ve ever met.  He seems like a good guy who has the beginnings of an understanding of Clark County’s K through 12 problems.  He promises to keep me informed.  I believe he speaks the truth.

Week-Long Rant

This is the last day of my week-long rant about the Clark County School District Board.  But fear not, I will continue to pound on this group of incompetents.  There is not one I would let near the operation of my television stations, or the banks, or colleges with which I’ve been associated for twenty years.

Clark County School Board Members

I have interviewed several of the Clark County School Board members.  We never reached the point of talking about solutions to the system’s problems.  Not one even understood the problems, much less, how to solve them. 

I thought I was talking to members of the student council at one of the local high schools—actually the local grade schools.

How can you, as a member of Southern Nevada’s parents allow this band of bozos to destroy the future of the great majority of Southern Nevada’s students?

Clark County School Board

I’ve been on 7 bank boards and the boards of more than a dozen of the top law schools in this country; I hold nine honorary doctorates from the best colleges for my work in education over the last 20 years; and I think I did a pretty good job as Nevada’s Chancellor of higher education. 

In all my education life, I have never seen a board like the Clark County School Board that lacked education, experience, judgment and creativity, and had no plans or abilities to solve its operating and financial problems.

Dwight Jones was a disaster.  Now the board chooses to name one from the management group that has been unable to solve the system’s problems as its interim superintendent.  This decision is totally void of any judgment.  This band of incompetents should be ashamed of itself, but even worse, you should be ashamed of electing this board.

Interim Superintendant

I’m sure that many of you will say it’s only sour grapes which resulted from my not being begged to become the interim superintendent.  It would be much easier on me if I just went about my business and stopped caring about Clark County K-12.  But I can’t, because I graduated from Las Vegas High School nearly 60 years ago, I’ve watched my three children go to school in Southern Nevada and it saddens me to see this education system that might have had serious problems in any case, be destroyed by a public that continues to elect a school board that is a combination of the most incompetent leaders in this country. 

Why do we care so little that we elect this group of bozos and turn them loose to destroy our children?

K Through 12

I’m not sure that any one group, even many groups, a strong Nevada legislature and a supportive governor can do anything to save K through 12 in Southern Nevada.  Rescuing it will be like a man in a rowboat throwing a lifeline to the Titanic.  I do, however, have some ideas that might prevent the system from drowning all of its students.  

Ruben Kihuen

Nevada Senator Ruben Kihuen, Chair of Nevada Senate Revenue committee won’t return our reporter’s calls about mining taxation.  After weeks of reaching out, we are still waiting. 

#SJR15 #NVLeg @RubenKihuen

We Will Not Back Down

What is blackmail and bullying?  When big mining pulls ad money because they are under scrutiny.  What do they have to hide?  We will not back down. 

#SJR15 #NVLeg

How Mining Gets Taxed?

Would you like a say in how mining gets taxed?  Tell your legislators to pick up SJR 15 and run with it now.  By the way, many of your elected officials take big mining’s money while we wait.

New Superintendent

I am eagerly awaiting the return of Elaine Wynn and her sidekick, Maureen Peckman, who will with trumpets blaring announce to the Clark County School Board who Elaine’s choice for the new superintendent and how they are to vote to confirm her appointment.

SJR 15

Your Nevada Governor is reported to have received $43,500 from mining interests.  Nevada State Democratic Party reported to have received $125,000.00 from mining.  All the while, SJR 15 sits waiting.

Basketball Coach

Cliff Findlay attended the Gonzaga-Loyola Marymount Basketball game in Las Vegas at the same time UNLV was losing to last-place, Fresno State.

I wonder if Cliff was looking at the Gonzaga coach in hopes of replacing Rice.

Next Hire As Superintendent

I understand that Elaine Wynn and Maureen Peckman are already out of state visiting their next hire as superintendent of schools of Clark County.

I wish them luck and hope this new superintendent will be far superior to the one they previously appointed as superintendent several years ago.

Jones was a disaster.  I know Elaine and Maureen would never make the same mistake twice.

SJR 15

Are Nevada legislators working for you or for big mining?  This week, I’ll reveal how much money your elected officials are taking from big mining as SJR 15 sits waiting.

Investing In UNLV

Not one southern Nevada family has done more to support its education system than the Fertittas. I have no idea what their future contributions will be to support UNLV.  I do know that if they decided to make a $100 million dollar or more gift to UNLV it would raise another billion dollars from those who will want to climb aboard the ship. 

UNLV must develop a strategy to persuade the Fertittas that the future of UNLV would be guaranteed if they and others like them would invest substantial amounts they are capable of investing in UNLV.

Partners In The Future Success

Sheldon Adelson and his wife, a very fine medical doctor, have a net worth larger than the net worth of many countries.  And yet, with it being easy for Sheldon and his wife to give UNLV $350 million dollars, we have failed to enlist the Adelsons as partners in UNLV’s future.  How can we fix the mistakes we have made and persuade the Adelsons to become partners in the future success of UNLV?  I would like your thoughts and advice.

Attract The Big Money

What did we do wrong?  Why aren’t we able to persuade Kirk Kerkorian, a multimillionaire, to give UNLV at least $200 million dollars?   I assume he didn’t believe in the value or future of the school.

A gift by Kerkorian of one to two hundred million dollars would have brought numerous other similar gifts by southern Nevadans that would have resulted in an avalanche of support.

We need to learn how and why we failed and what we could have done differently to attract the big money to UNLV.

Selling UNLV’s Potential Success

UNLV began as a college with great potential.  One of the primary reasons was the financial support of Perry Thomas, Jerry Mack and Irwin Molasky.  Their names alone gave great credibility to the future success of UNLV.  Those gifts should have brought a multitude of gifts that would have jumpstarted UNLV to become competitive nationally.  Unfortunately there was little follow up by the multitude of rich southern Nevadans.

We need to restart UNLV’s program to invent itself and include the rich folks to build UNLV into a highly-ranked nationally respected university.

Had we done a better job of selling UNLV’s potential success, we might have enticed Jerry Herbst, one of the very wealthy southern Nevada business people, into showing his support by giving the school $100 million dollars or more.

Faith & Support

What effect can a major donor have on the future success of a university?  Assume that Elaine Wynn decided to make a $100 million dollar gift to a specific department or college at UNLV.  What effect would that have on UNLV’s future?  First, the department or college would then have the ability to expand and improve to become competitive nationally.  But just as important as the $100 million dollars is the faith and support Elaine Wynn’s name alone would give to UNLV’s future.  If she could put that kind of money into the system, I’m sure others would follow and soon UNLV would become a new challenger in the world of higher education.

Individual Wealth

In the 60 years I’ve lived in Southern Nevada we’ve had many boom periods and more than our share of bust periods.  But overall, when you compare our economy with the economies of all the rest of the fifty states, we’ve been far ahead of most in having a productive economy.

Yet with all the financial success that Nevada has had, we’ve never developed the ability to understand that while the Nevada economy created individual wealth, many of those individuals did not reciprocate by supporting the very system that created them. 

Think what we would be if Nevada’s rich folks had decided to invest the money they made in Nevada back into its education system.

I would love to see the University of Nevada School of Medicine change its name to the Benny Binion School of Medicine because Benny’s son Jack had written a check to the school for 100 million dollars or more.