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Bring your hands together, Principal of
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Applied Analysis. Good morning and thank
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you for the opportunity to be here today.
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I'm very honored to be asked to come and
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be able to address you respecting the
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fact that I'm doing a little bit of
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pinch-hitting as I was.
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Nicole was nice enough to send me over
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some talking points and things that she
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thought may be of interest. And as I
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started to prepare, it seemed to me that
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the right place to begin was with thank
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you it occurs to me that I as much as
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probably anyone in this community, I'm a
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product of this group of people and the
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balance of the teachers and
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administrators at the Clark County
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School District. Fourth-generation
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Nevadan that means that my father and my
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mother both graduated from high school
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here. My mother went all the way through
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school here, my grandmother graduated
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from Las Vegas High School in 1939, and
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her mother graduated yep and her mother
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graduated from was then called the
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Nevada Normal School in 1912, yeah.
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I take a great deal of pride in this
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community and I take a great deal of
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pride in the education that I have. And
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as I was preparing my comments for today,
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it occurred to me that so much of the
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opportunities that I've been given are a
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result of the educational experience
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that I had. My stepmother, who most of you
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probably knew, her name was Emily Agüero.
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So, with the school district for a very
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very long time.
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She used to take me to school at
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John C. Bass. And I was about 4 or 5
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years old and was one of the earliest
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memories that I had. Pretty remarkable. I
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remember thinking to myself, man. This is
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pretty cool. This is a place that I want
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to be, Mrs. Crine in kindergarten. She
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was very sweet to me, and taught me that
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education could be fun. We had those
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little centers we would go from place to
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place she taught me that bullying wasn't
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okay. I wasn't the bully. I was the guy
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that was getting bullied, but we got it
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all figured out. By the time we got out
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of kindergarten, right in first grade, you
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know, I sort of we started doing reading
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in mathematics. I thought, "Okay, this is
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stuff I think I can figure out how to do."
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I learned that I was never going to go
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professional as a tetherball player.
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Although my aspirations were definitely
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there, Mrs. Judd, I had in second grade, she
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started to teach me more about
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mathematics, and really gave me a real
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joy of math which turned out to be
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something that was helpful for me. She
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also taught me that keeping ants as a
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pet, and bringing them to school is
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something that's frowned upon at the
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Clark County School District. In the
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third grade, I had Mrs. Schneider,
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absolutely remarkable teacher. She taught
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me to write in cursive something that I
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think students is a bit of a lost art
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today. But nonetheless, she also told me
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that what makes us different makes us
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special and makes us good. She found
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something incredible about every student
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in our class, and make sure that they had
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enough confidence to stand up and talk
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about what made them special. In fourth
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grade, I had Mrs. Carter.
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She let me be myself. I went through
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something of a Michael J Fox family tie
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phase. I decided I would bring a
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briefcase and wear a little tie when I
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came to school. Yes, that was a little bit
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ridiculous. But nonetheless,
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she was a remarkable teacher and one
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that I have affinity and still talk
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about still today. Fifth grade. Mr. Gray
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and Mrs. Geno taught me to embrace
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school, taught me that working hard was
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what was necessary. In the third grade, I
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was what was then referred to as the
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Reading Improvement Program. I was not a
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good reader. I've always struggled with
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that, although I've gotten better at it
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over time. By the time I was in fifth
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grade, I was tested for the academically
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talented program because Miss Snyder
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recognized I had a problem because Miss
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Carter worked with me on it, and because
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Miss Gugino and Mr. Gray believed that I
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could do better than I was doing, then
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for that, I am eternally grateful. I am
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also eternally grateful for family.
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When I took the academically talented
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test, they went through a bunch of things.
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I was at the very last point of the test.
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I was one question away from either
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getting into the program or not getting
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into the program, and the last word that
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I had to be able to recognize was a word
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called pseudonym. There's a woman here on
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Las Vegas many of you may have known,
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just like an Anthony, her name is Pat
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Mulroy. She was hanging out at our pool
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one time, quizzing me relative to all
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of these words and she taught me the
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word pseudonym just the summer before I
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had taken that exam. If it wasn't for
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family and friends caring, and educators
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extending that, I never would be where I
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am today.
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I was bussed 45 minutes across the
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community to Joe Mackay, where for sixth
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grade, it was a positive experience.
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However, it all is always stuck with me
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that education is not always equal and
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that is something that I think is
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something that we have to consider and
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always move forward. I think we've made
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great strides in the last 30 years
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relative to that, but it has always stuck
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with me as I've been invited to go to
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different schools by trustees. Those
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things have been remarkable in junior
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high school. I found out that I really
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wanted to hang out with the kids that
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were in the accelerated classes,
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those were the, where the middle was.
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Moving up, I didn't want to be somewhere
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else. It provided me that opportunity in
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high school. Barbara Crawford, my English
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professor, who I will never forget, god
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rest her soul. She was a wonderful
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wonderful woman at Valley High School.
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She
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taught me to find my inner voice, right?
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And not be scared of it to write the
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things that I said and say the things
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that I fought because that was okay to
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do. It was okay to have my own thought. I
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left Valley High School. I went to the
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University of Nevada Las Vegas for
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another teacher, a gentleman by the name
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of Shannon. He encouraged me, took me
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under his wing, and actually told me to
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come into his classroom every single day
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or, excuse me, every semester to come in
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because he wanted to know what classes I
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was choosing. And it wouldn't matter what
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classes I actually put down on that
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little piece of paper. He would scratch
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them all out and change them to ones
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that were much harder than the ones that
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I wanted to add. He was a wonderful
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wonderful human being.
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He cared people had looked out for him,
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and he had done the same.
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Shannon taught me that we all have a
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responsibility to leave this community
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better than we found it. We have a
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responsibility to pass it on.
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I left UNLV and I went to law
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school because Shannon made me promise
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him that I would. I never planned to
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practice law. I've never practiced live,
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never sat for any type of postgraduate
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exam, or anything along those lines.
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But the law has taught me a great many
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things: that Law School is a remarkable
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feat, just like this building that I am
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so honored to be standing on this stage
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at, taught me a great number of things.
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About how we can work within the system,
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and how we can change it, right? That is
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where I feel like we are today. We are in
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a bold effort to try and improve our
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condition as a community as we fight
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with growth, and we deal with the
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problems that have been systemic. It is
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unfortunate to note that we have
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neglected our education system for the
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better part of a generation, and now we
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are shocked and stunned by
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underperformance in some areas we cannot
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have an expectation to under resource
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and under pay and under dedicate and not
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pay sufficient attention to our public
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schools, and then expect to superior
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performance on the back end. That said,
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that's it. I don't know when it occurred
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and maybe it just occurred because I
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opened my eyes or because I was involved
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in some meeting, but I don't know when it
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occurred that the superintendent or that
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teachers or that administrators got cast
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in the role of villain. I don't know when
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it was the legislators decided that they
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could substitute their judgment for
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judgment, who for the judgment of people
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who educate people every day and people
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who are hired to do that who have made
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it their life's work no better had
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educate children and the people that are
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in front of those children every single
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day. I don't know when exactly that
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happened, but what I can tell you is this.
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I can tell you that I do believe that
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this state and this community are coming
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together. I do believe that the
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opportunities that are presented by the
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fact that we are having a more
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transparent discussion about our
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problems that we are understanding what
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the shortcomings are. And we are trying
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to identify solutions we are not there
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yet. And I will talk about some of those
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today, but I don't want to leave you with
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the impression that I am NOT optimistic
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about this community, that I am NOT
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optimistic about the Clark County School
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District that I am NOT excited about the
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fact that I have three children, all of
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which will be educated, or have been
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educated in this Clark County school
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district. And that I believe that their
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promise is just as great as anyone. Any
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student coming out of any school
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anywhere in the United States and for
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that, I am infinitely thankful to the
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people in this way.
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I was asked to come and speak just a
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little bit about what we're seeing in
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the economy the fiscal system what you
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can expect on a go-forward basis. I think
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that is a relatively straightforward
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conversation to have. We have
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transitioned from a period of decline to
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a period of expansion. There's a lot of
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uncertainty going on relative to what's
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happening in Washington DC I continue to
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believe that the office of the president
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is more important than the person who
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holds that office. And sometimes, that's a
-
bit difficult to see. And sometimes we
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have differences of opinion, slowness,
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argument, dissent is the way the system
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is supposed to work. The newspapers. The
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media have sensationalized so much of
-
the debate that's going on right? The
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social media that's out there, the way in
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which we communicate the folks has made
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it faster and shorter. And we don't
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always have a conversation about what is
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on page two, but all of that having been
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said, the structure of the United States
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economy is clearly stable today. There
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are more people working in the United
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States of America than at any point in
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our history. Today, the United States of
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America is producing more than any point
-
in our history. All of the instability
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that went on during the Great Recession,
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the recession that we now refer to as
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great, and it was difficult and a lot of
-
people lost their jobs. And I don't want
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to minimize any of that. All of that
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strife that occurred. All of it. Where did
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people from all over the world put their
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money when they had to go somewhere? They
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put it in the United States. Where do
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people that have the option to send
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their children when they have to go to
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college? Where do they send them? They
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send them to the United States. Now maybe,
-
we'll say it differently. Maybe, we can
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look at what we're doing, and we can be
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our own worst critic. But if we're going
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to think about it in that way. Maybe
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we're the best of the bad places to be
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on planet Earth because everybody has
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problems, and we accept that. But if we
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are creating jobs, if we are creating
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economic opportunity, if we are expanding.
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And today, we are at the full rate of
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employment, which means that everybody
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who wants to have a job has a job, and
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while some of that continues to be under
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employment. While our skill set continues
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to be lagging because the economy is
-
innovating faster than we can build, the
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skill sets up we are making strides in,
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that direction everyone from Career and
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Technical academies to those that are
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doing internships and apprenticeships to
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everything that the College of Southern
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Nevada is doing to train people to be
-
ready to enter that workforce are
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helping. We made some 25 different
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changes. We, I don't mean to sound
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presumptive, the state legislature and
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the state made 25 meaningful changes to
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education over the past in 2015 and a
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little bit after that. The reality of
-
that is is that is going to take 10 to
-
15 years to actually show its ability to
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manifest in terms of the students that
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are ultimately coming out of the Clark
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County School District or any other
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school district that has made similar
-
types of changes. That is just the
-
reality of it and as much as we like the
-
idea of micromanaging the schools and
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schools across this country, the reality
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of it is is that there's also the other
-
side of that equation which is
-
essentially reform fatigue. We need to
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give some of these plans. The opportunity
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to work and focus on the things that
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we're doing right, and minimize the
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things that we're doing wrong that is
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not a Nevada problem, that is not a Clark
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County school districts problem, that is
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a United States problem. The economy is
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moving quickly. It is a rapid evolution
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in terms of what companies like Swatch
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and Tesla and Google and Microsoft, what
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they need and what they require. Even if
-
we had it perfect today, five years from
-
now. It would not be perfect anymore, but
-
this United, these United States, the
-
education system that exists is making
-
efforts to move that ball down the field,
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and improve that here at home in the
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state of Nevada.
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Things are even better than they are in
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the United States. We tend to think about
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it in terms of the big three population
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growth employment, growth tax, taxable
-
retail sales or consumer spending growth,
-
all of those are at or near the highest
-
level they have ever been. And what does
-
that mean for the Clark County School
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District? That means that more students
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are coming. That means that classes are
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going to be increasingly crowded-based
-
on the way that we fund our schools. That
-
means that we are going to have
-
additional challenges, not only from the
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students like me that went from
-
kindergarten all the way through twelfth
-
grade in the system, but the ones that
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are coming from other areas. These are
-
the realities that some of them will
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come and they won't speak English. Some
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of them will come, and they will have
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education from some of them will come
-
and they will be remarkably educated,
-
remarkably talented and they will help
-
us continue to grow and develop this
-
community. Our diversity is an asset. The
-
people moving into this community
-
provide a way to leverage that asset and
-
continue to grow it this community is
-
geared for growth. We don't have a choice.
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People are coming for two reasons: number
-
one: they're coming to get a job. Number
-
two:
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they're coming for retirement. Those ones
-
that are coming to get a job largely are
-
small starting families. Those type of
-
things right which is a little bit of a
-
dichotomy because people that are
-
retiring don't always like kids
-
that it's always a problem.
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No, but we'll deal with it right. We will
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deal with it because that's who we are.
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You will remember for those that have
-
been here for a while, you'll remember
-
back in 2006, we were talking about not
-
having enough employees. We're talking
-
about having enough concrete and glass
-
to build all the casinos and hotels. We
-
were talking about building the Ivanpah
-
Airport, because we were going to run out
-
of capacity at McCarran International
-
Airport. And not in not too far into the
-
future, and we couldn't stop that. All of
-
those same problems are coming again. We
-
have an affordable housing problem which
-
I'm sure is making it remarkably
-
difficult for your teachers and for
-
those of you are trying to recruit. We have
-
got to solve that.
-
We have a capacity problem in terms of
-
having enough employees. We are 10,000
-
employees short in our community today
-
in terms of construction related
-
employment, but nonetheless, population is
-
growing. We are adding jobs in almost
-
every sector of the economy which is
-
positive for us and taxable retail
-
spending, which suggests that consumers
-
are consumers again is at the highest
-
level. We have ever seen in the history
-
of the state of Nevada that is good for
-
us. And it is something that we should
-
embrace in terms of our prosperity that
-
having. Having been said, you've read in
-
the newspaper. I've read in the newspaper
-
that the Clark County School District
-
and other state and local governments is
-
running has a budget problem, has a
-
budget shortfall, and as we think about
-
that we think about how in the world can
-
these two things coexist? How is it,
-
Jeremy, that you can stand up here and
-
tell us the economy is doing? Well,
-
consumers are spending mone,y housing
-
prices are going up. People are getting
-
jobs, wages, and salaries are rising and
-
yet, you're going to tell me that the
-
revenues that give rise, the revenues
-
that support the Clark County school
-
districts budget are underperforming. How
-
can these things be possible? And the
-
answer is they absolutely can because
-
the way we fund education in the state
-
of Nevada is nothing more than a shell
-
game. And I hate to tell you that, and
-
it's been that way since I've been doing
-
what I've been doing in 1997 is one of
-
the very first project that I ever
-
worked on was the governor's task force
-
on tax policy. We evaluated what is known
-
as the Nevada plan, and the distributive
-
school account. And I'm not even going to
-
start to go through that because that
-
would be almost as painful for you as it
-
is for me. But let me assure you of one
-
thing, it is a circular funding formula
-
that is always intended to ensure that
-
there is never a surplus in education.
-
And when deficits come in that the state
-
and elected officials that make those
-
type of decisions have the ability to
-
move things around to either create a
-
benefit or not. that is the reality of
-
our state's education system. It's funded
-
through two primary revenue sources: one
-
is local support. Low
-
school support taxes a portion of your
-
sales tax. The other one is property tax.
-
In 2009, we put on a series of abatement
-
onto property tax for all of us at on a
-
home. This has been terrific.
-
Wonderful right? We see that our property
-
taxes don't go up very much. But this
-
year, the Clark County School District
-
will lose literally hundreds of millions
-
of dollars because all of us are
-
receiving a tax abatement. It is not
-
Faraday future. It is not Google. It is
-
not Tesla. That is the reason for those
-
tax abatements. It is you and I. It is us
-
sitting in this room and do that. And I
-
will tell you that this was known. There
-
was not a surprise to anyone that this
-
is what was going to happen. So ladies
-
and gentlemen, what I would like to tell
-
you when we think about the fiscal
-
system is. Will there be growth? Will
-
taxable retail sales go up? Yes, they will.
-
Will property values go up? Yes,
-
they will. Will this lead to significant
-
increases in the funding for education
-
in the state of Nevada? No, it will not. I
-
would implore you to galvanize to unify
-
around making real and meaningful
-
changes to the way in which we fund
-
schools in the state of Nevada. The
-
Nevada plan needs to go the distributive
-
school account.
-
The distributive school account needs to
-
be revised and be more reflective of
-
what how schools need to be funded today.
-
If I am paying money, that is called the
-
local school support tax. And that money
-
falls out of the bottom of that budget. I
-
would like to know that those one shots
-
that surplus should be available to fund
-
one-time appropriations for schools. If I
-
am paying the majority of my property
-
tax, and it says school capital. And it
-
says school operating. I don't want to
-
hear that any of the money that's
-
falling out of the bottom of that is
-
redirected into the state's general fund.
-
And used for some other purpose, I will
-
tell you that there is, thank you. I will
-
tell you that there is not only an
-
increasing momentum among the folks in
-
Carson City, but also an increasing
-
understanding. This was designed to be
-
intentionally opaque. It was, in design, to
-
be difficult. It will take time to get
-
people to understand that these changes
-
need to be made. Now, I don't know how
-
hard. Look, I know how hard every one of
-
you worked. I guess what I'm trying to
-
say is, I don't know if people know how
-
hard that Pat and Nicole work up in
-
Carson City to try and educate people
-
about these changes. The only word that I
-
can come up to explain, it is tireless. A
-
tireless effort to try and get people to
-
understand it, but for those who
-
represent you and the folks who work for
-
you. Every day, they have also got to
-
change their focus. The reality is, if we
-
look at something, we say, "Oh look, the
-
state legislature gave us raises." They
-
put it into the distributive school
-
account without any understanding
-
whatsoever of the totality of that
-
account and how it works. And the some
-
light up look over here, don't look over
-
there.
-
Nature of that account while at the same
-
time requiring an ending fund, balance
-
that. If your household maintained $10 in
-
your bank account, or my business
-
maintained a hundred dollars in my bank
-
account. given the fact that there
-
is instability in things like property
-
tax and imperfection and things like
-
taxable retail sales, who is left holding
-
the bag when property caches come in
-
slightly under expectation? Who is left
-
holding the bag when sales facts come in
-
slightly under expectation? Who is left
-
holding the bag?
-
The answer is teachers, and the students
-
in those classrooms, and the reason, where
-
we see it manifest is the fact that
-
every year, class sizes get larger,
-
because that is the only leveraging
-
mechanism that we have to balance. The
-
budget is to jam more kids into every
-
classroom. Ladies and gentlemen, that is
-
unacceptable.
-
For the state of Nevada, we have got to
-
find a way to fix it from an economic
-
standpoint. Our community is doing well
-
and will continue to do. Well, from a
-
fiscal standpoint, we will continue to
-
improve, but the prosperity of our
-
economy will not be equal by the
-
prosperity of our fiscal system. If we do
-
not fix it, it will be a continuing
-
problem. The jobs that will continue to
-
be created in this state, and I think we
-
owe a debt of gratitude, not only to
-
Governor Sandoval, but also to a
-
gentleman by the name of Steve Hill, who
-
has changed the perception of the state
-
of Nevada, who has completely changed it
-
from an economic development standpoint.
-
We in this state,
-
we in this state have created 10,000 new
-
employers since 2011. Call governor Sandoval,
-
good, call governor Sandoval.
-
I don't care. He's probably both. He
-
is a remarkable governor who cares about
-
the future and has done a great many
-
things for this school district, and for
-
this state that will be the driving
-
force that pushes this economy forward
-
during the economic downturn we had an
-
economic problem. First, we had a fiscal
-
problem second. Today, we have fixed the
-
economic problem. Let me be clear about
-
this fact we are no longer in recession.
-
We are clearly in expansion. We have 15
-
billion dollars worth of
-
that are planned, proposed and under
-
construction and everybody other than I
-
think my brother-in-law has a job right?
-
I didn't say which brother-in-law, just
-
to be clear in case, anyone knows them.
-
This will create opportunity but the
-
continuation of that opportunity
-
absent a legitimate long conversation
-
about how we fund schools. So that every
-
two years, we're not arguing about two
-
percent. We're not arguing about one
-
pupil. We're not arguing about one
-
program. But we are arguing about how to
-
get this school district, and this state
-
from where it is today to a leader in
-
education in this country, and I think
-
that is within our grasp. And we are at
-
least taking steps in that direction
-
respecting the fact that my time is
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about coming to an end, I do want to do
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two things: number one, I want to thank
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the Clark County School District for
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everything that they have done, and all
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of you for what you have given me. I also
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do want to extend the thanks to the most
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important teacher in my life, who is my
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wife. She is a first-grade teacher at
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Wolfe Elementary,
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and she reminds me every single day that
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being a teacher is not necessarily a job
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or profession. It is a calling, and for so
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many of you people say the children are
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our future, your future,
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I think an equal part of that is
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the folks who have made the decision
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made the commitment to commit so much of
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their time, energy, their love, and frankly,
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so much of their money to educating the
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students in this community, including my
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children with that. Thank you very, very
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much.