UNLV

UNLV was initially financed by private money.  Parry Thomas and Irwin Molasky, among others, made substantial contributions in both land and money to prime the pump which should have brought the state and other wealthy Nevadans into the development of a first-rate higher education system.  UNLV had great potential in the 50s and 60s, but its life’s blood—that is money—has been reduced to a trickle.  That is not the formula for success.

Funding

Higher education has three sources of revenue:  ONE, state funding; TWO, tuition and fees; and THREE, income from research.  Nevada has never funded higher education, especially UNLV and CSN.  Even when times were good and the economy was booming, Nevadans never felt higher education was important.

The Great Disservice

I would no more consider putting my children in the K-12 system in Clark County than I would shoot my favorite dog.  It is such a failure and does so much damage to our children that even if it were totally repaired tomorrow morning, its victims, supposedly educated during the last 30 years would still be unable to adjust to the great disservice the Clark County education system’s has done them.

Governance Board

The Board of Regents that governs the Nevada System of Higher Education have intellect, experience and sophisticated backgrounds that create the type of person to be on a governance board.  The level of their competence is infinitely greater than that of the Clark County School District.  They meet 4 times a year for 2 days each time.  They do not interfere with the day-to-day operation of the Nevada higher education system.  The Clark County Board of Trustees needs to be redesigned to create a policy board rather than a board of amateurs that constantly interfere with and injure the Clark County School District.

Policy Setters

The Clark County School District Trustees do not understand that they are not operators – they are policy setters.  Every time they listen to a child’s parent complain about homework, class size, etc. and they respond to that by interfering with the day-to-day activities of the superintendent, they totally undermine the ability of the superintendent to be the chief executive officer of the system.  No superintendent will ever be effective as long as this board functions as it does.

Ask Them

Governance Boards which includes the boards of directors of every business entity in this country are policy setters.  It is not their job to do the day-to-day work or to supervise that work.  The first rule of policy setting which the Clark County School Board Trustees is incapable of understanding is that it does not need to be on the job every day.  I’m sure the directors of Bank of America don’t appear at corporate headquarters in New York to talk to depositors. 

I have suggested that the board consist of Elaine Wynn, Perry Rogers, Pat Mulroy, Patti Hart, Bill Martin, Ken Ladd, Janie Greenspun, Don Snyder, Tom Gallagher, Jan Jones, Carolyn Sparks and Mike Saltman.  There are many other qualified southern Nevadans who could be very effective members of the board.  We only need ask them.

KNPR Interview

I ask that you listen to an interview of me by Luis Hernandez which will air this morning at 9am and tonight at 8pm on KNPR’s State of Nevada.

I’ve repeatedly attempted to explain my position in tweets over that last several months about the governance of K through 12 in southern Nevada.

I believe you will get a much deeper understanding of my thought process in concluding that the trustees of the Board of Education of Clark County are totally incompetent and are unprepared by education and experience to set policy for educating our three hundred thousand K through 12 Clark County students. Until the governance is changed the choice of a superintendent will have no positive effect.

Please listen.

An Investment In UNLV

For Steve Wynn to contribute funds to UNLV he must have as much pride in UNLV as he has in his own world-class university, the University of Pennsylvania.  The Fertittas must be as proud of UNLV as they are of their alma maters, NYU and USC; the Herbsts must become as proud of UNLV as they are of their alma mater, USC; and the Adlson’s must become as proud of UNLV as Dr. Miriam Adelson is of the medical school from which she graduated.  PRIDE will only come when they believe that an investment in UNLV will provide the pride commensurate with their own alma maters.

Pride

The argument that the Adelsons, the Wynns, the Herbsts and the Fertittas “owe” Nevada something for their success is invalid and has no basis in fact or logic.  What argument then can be made to these incredibly wealthy individuals, who fortunately for us live in Nevada, to persuade them that they can by themselves create a university system in Southern Nevada than can compete with any of the private and public higher education institutions anywhere in the United States?  PRIDE is the answer, and I believe is the only answer.  Until these individuals become proud of the city and state in which they live and want to express that pride by having the rest of the world know of that pride, they will not become active in Nevada’s higher education system.

Proud

My wealth is miniscule compared to that of the Adelsons, Wynns, Herbsts and Fertittas, and yet my wife and I are considered to be very wealthy.  Our contributions to various universities, especially the University of Arizona, where I received seven years of first-rate education, were not made because we feel we owe the schools anything.  Rather, we make those because we are PROUD of our schools and want them to flourish at the highest level.

UNLV

The initial reaction of the public at large is that the Adelsons, Wynns, Herbsts and Fertittas “owe” Nevada a great deal because it is Nevada who made them the financial successes that they are.  My assumption would be that these multi-billionaires sincerely and reasonably believe that it is they who built Nevada, not Nevada that built their fortunes.  I agree that not one of these individuals “owes” Nevada anything.  That being so, what argument do we use to persuade them to give substantial amounts of their wealth to UNLV?

Investments

I have no direct evidence of why the Adelsons, the Wynns, the Herbsts and the Fertittas have never made substantial investments in UNLV.  Their combined net worth must exceed fifty billion dollars.  I do, however, have some feeling based upon my twenty years of seeking substantial investments by individuals in their local universities.  More tomorrow.

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State Superintendent Of Education

I’m such a glutton for punishment that I actually gave thought to volunteering to become the State Superintendent of Education.  Fortunately I came to my senses and realized that at my age, I simply am not physically able to take on the task.  As I previously said it must be a job held by a youngster with tremendous energy, perseverance and enthusiasm.  

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Frauds

I am sickened when I watch the Clark County School Board attempt to function at its formal meetings.  In all my professional life, I’ve never seen such a gathering of incompetent policy-setting leaders who simply have no connection with the operation of a policy board.  I wish I had words that were kind that would describe this group.  Even the words idiots, incompetents, stupid, ignorant and useless don’t really describe these frauds. 

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Nevada’s Education Problems

I wish I could let go of this compulsion to help solve Nevada’s education problems.  I know there are many in the K-16 system who would like to see me go away and never return.  But I can’t let go and as long as my health will allow it, to the extent I can still breathe, I will stick my nose into Nevada’s education system.

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Nevada’s Education Ills

Any sane person would look at the education system in Nevada and understand that it is in such terrible shape that trying to rescue it and rebuild it is an impossible task.  It would take a young person no more than 40 years of age with a constitution of a horse, an Einstein IQ and drive yet unknown to mankind to take on the job of curing Nevada’s education ills.  

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Can’t Do It

I’m 74.  I’ve managed to accumulate substantial wealth.  I have a beautiful home in Montana and logic tells me I should go there and never think about Las Vegas again.  But I can’t do it. 

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Lack Of Substance

I strongly suggest that each and every one of you in Clark County take a few minutes to learn about the nine individuals that serve on your Clark County School Board.  You will be shocked to learn of the amateurs and incompetents that comprise this group.  After you’re over the shock and you’ve stopped laughing, I think you’ll be very sad to learn about the lack of substance of this school board.

http://www.ccsd.net/trustees/

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What His Replacement Does

Former State Superintendent of Education Jim Guthrie informed me that after examining the seventeen counties in Nevada that had problems, Clark County stood alone as the disaster of K through 12 education.   He intended to focus on curing the Clark County ills.  I understand Governor Sandoval supported Guthrie’s plan to remedy the situation.  Guthrie is now gone and it will be interesting to see what his replacement does. They can change every part of the structure of the Clark County School District, but if those changes do not include a complete elimination of the present governance system, they will have no success.

  

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Group Of Incompetents

I don’t know how much power former State Superintendent of Education Jim Guthrie had to cause the change of the governance body of the Clark County School District.  My guess would be that he had no power.   But it may be that if Guthrie’s replacement  focuses on the fundamental structures  of the Clark County School District, that is, its board of trustees, the public may finally take action to rid us all of this group of incompetents.

Clark County School Board

You cannot have the inmates running the asylum.  That’s a corny, but very true principle of management.  The inadequacies and the inefficiencies in the Clark County School District management levels will never be solved until a board of directors, that is the Clark County School Board, is eliminated and replaced with a governing board that has some knowledge of how to solve operating problems.

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Ex-State Superintendent of Education

No organization can be successful if its governance structure is flawed.  No superintendent of the Clark County School District will ever be able to make the system successful as long as the board under which he serves is incompetent.  Ex-State Superintendent of Education Jim Guthrie talked to me two weeks ago about Clark County—Nevada’s only county that he considers to have an education system that simply does not work.  We discussed the need to change the governance system and rid this county of leadership that is a guarantee of future failure.