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Back to School Kickoff Keynote Speaker: Jeremy Aguero of Applied Analysis

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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
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    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
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    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
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    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
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    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,
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    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
  • 12:04 - 12:07
    employment. While our skill set continues
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    to be lagging because the economy is
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    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
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    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
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    that is is that is going to take 10 to
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    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
  • 12:57 - 12:59
    County School District or any other
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    school district that has made similar
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    types of changes. That is just the
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    reality of it and as much as we like the
  • 13:06 - 13:09
    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
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    side of that equation which is
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    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
  • 13:41 - 13:44
    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
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    we had it perfect today, five years from
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    now. It would not be perfect anymore, but
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    this United, these United States, the
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    education system that exists is making
  • 14:02 - 14:05
    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
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    retail sales or consumer spending growth,
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    all of those are at or near the highest
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    level they have ever been. And what does
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    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
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    on the way that we fund our schools. That
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    means that we are going to have
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    additional challenges, not only from the
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    students like me that went from
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    kindergarten all the way through twelfth
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    grade in the system, but the ones that
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    are coming from other areas. These are
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    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
  • 14:55 - 14:57
    education from some of them will come
  • 14:57 - 14:59
    and they will be remarkably educated,
  • 14:59 - 15:01
    remarkably talented and they will help
  • 15:01 - 15:04
    us continue to grow and develop this
  • 15:04 - 15:08
    community. Our diversity is an asset. The
  • 15:08 - 15:09
    people moving into this community
  • 15:09 - 15:12
    provide a way to leverage that asset and
  • 15:12 - 15:15
    continue to grow it this community is
  • 15:15 - 15:18
    geared for growth. We don't have a choice.
  • 15:18 - 15:20
    People are coming for two reasons: number
  • 15:20 - 15:23
    one: they're coming to get a job. Number
  • 15:23 - 15:24
    two:
  • 15:24 - 15:26
    they're coming for retirement. Those ones
  • 15:26 - 15:29
    that are coming to get a job largely are
  • 15:29 - 15:31
    small starting families. Those type of
  • 15:31 - 15:33
    things right which is a little bit of a
  • 15:33 - 15:34
    dichotomy because people that are
  • 15:34 - 15:36
    retiring don't always like kids
  • 15:36 - 15:37
    that it's always a problem.
  • 15:37 - 15:40
    No, but we'll deal with it right. We will
  • 15:40 - 15:42
    deal with it because that's who we are.
  • 15:42 - 15:44
    You will remember for those that have
  • 15:44 - 15:46
    been here for a while, you'll remember
  • 15:46 - 15:49
    back in 2006, we were talking about not
  • 15:49 - 15:50
    having enough employees. We're talking
  • 15:50 - 15:52
    about having enough concrete and glass
  • 15:52 - 15:54
    to build all the casinos and hotels. We
  • 15:54 - 15:56
    were talking about building the Ivanpah
  • 15:56 - 15:59
    Airport, because we were going to run out
  • 15:59 - 16:01
    of capacity at McCarran International
  • 16:01 - 16:04
    Airport. And not in not too far into the
  • 16:04 - 16:07
    future, and we couldn't stop that. All of
  • 16:07 - 16:09
    those same problems are coming again. We
  • 16:09 - 16:10
    have an affordable housing problem which
  • 16:10 - 16:12
    I'm sure is making it remarkably
  • 16:12 - 16:14
    difficult for your teachers and for
  • 16:14 - 16:16
    those of you are trying to recruit. We have
  • 16:16 - 16:18
    got to solve that.
  • 16:18 - 16:20
    We have a capacity problem in terms of
  • 16:20 - 16:23
    having enough employees. We are 10,000
  • 16:23 - 16:25
    employees short in our community today
  • 16:25 - 16:27
    in terms of construction related
  • 16:27 - 16:30
    employment, but nonetheless, population is
  • 16:30 - 16:32
    growing. We are adding jobs in almost
  • 16:32 - 16:34
    every sector of the economy which is
  • 16:34 - 16:37
    positive for us and taxable retail
  • 16:37 - 16:38
    spending, which suggests that consumers
  • 16:38 - 16:41
    are consumers again is at the highest
  • 16:41 - 16:44
    level. We have ever seen in the history
  • 16:44 - 16:47
    of the state of Nevada that is good for
  • 16:47 - 16:49
    us. And it is something that we should
  • 16:49 - 16:52
    embrace in terms of our prosperity that
  • 16:52 - 16:55
    having. Having been said, you've read in
  • 16:55 - 16:56
    the newspaper. I've read in the newspaper
  • 16:56 - 16:58
    that the Clark County School District
  • 16:58 - 17:00
    and other state and local governments is
  • 17:00 - 17:02
    running has a budget problem, has a
  • 17:02 - 17:05
    budget shortfall, and as we think about
  • 17:05 - 17:08
    that we think about how in the world can
  • 17:08 - 17:11
    these two things coexist? How is it,
  • 17:11 - 17:12
    Jeremy, that you can stand up here and
  • 17:12 - 17:14
    tell us the economy is doing? Well,
  • 17:14 - 17:16
    consumers are spending mone,y housing
  • 17:16 - 17:18
    prices are going up. People are getting
  • 17:18 - 17:20
    jobs, wages, and salaries are rising and
  • 17:20 - 17:23
    yet, you're going to tell me that the
  • 17:23 - 17:24
    revenues that give rise, the revenues
  • 17:24 - 17:26
    that support the Clark County school
  • 17:26 - 17:29
    districts budget are underperforming. How
  • 17:29 - 17:32
    can these things be possible? And the
  • 17:32 - 17:34
    answer is they absolutely can because
  • 17:34 - 17:37
    the way we fund education in the state
  • 17:37 - 17:39
    of Nevada is nothing more than a shell
  • 17:39 - 17:42
    game. And I hate to tell you that, and
  • 17:42 - 17:44
    it's been that way since I've been doing
  • 17:44 - 17:47
    what I've been doing in 1997 is one of
  • 17:47 - 17:48
    the very first project that I ever
  • 17:48 - 17:50
    worked on was the governor's task force
  • 17:50 - 17:52
    on tax policy. We evaluated what is known
  • 17:52 - 17:55
    as the Nevada plan, and the distributive
  • 17:55 - 17:56
    school account. And I'm not even going to
  • 17:56 - 17:58
    start to go through that because that
  • 17:58 - 18:00
    would be almost as painful for you as it
  • 18:00 - 18:03
    is for me. But let me assure you of one
  • 18:03 - 18:06
    thing, it is a circular funding formula
  • 18:06 - 18:09
    that is always intended to ensure that
  • 18:09 - 18:11
    there is never a surplus in education.
  • 18:11 - 18:15
    And when deficits come in that the state
  • 18:15 - 18:17
    and elected officials that make those
  • 18:17 - 18:19
    type of decisions have the ability to
  • 18:19 - 18:22
    move things around to either create a
  • 18:22 - 18:25
    benefit or not. that is the reality of
  • 18:25 - 18:28
    our state's education system. It's funded
  • 18:28 - 18:30
    through two primary revenue sources: one
  • 18:30 - 18:31
    is local support. Low
  • 18:31 - 18:33
    school support taxes a portion of your
  • 18:33 - 18:36
    sales tax. The other one is property tax.
  • 18:36 - 18:40
    In 2009, we put on a series of abatement
  • 18:40 - 18:42
    onto property tax for all of us at on a
  • 18:42 - 18:44
    home. This has been terrific.
  • 18:44 - 18:46
    Wonderful right? We see that our property
  • 18:46 - 18:48
    taxes don't go up very much. But this
  • 18:48 - 18:51
    year, the Clark County School District
  • 18:51 - 18:53
    will lose literally hundreds of millions
  • 18:53 - 18:55
    of dollars because all of us are
  • 18:55 - 18:58
    receiving a tax abatement. It is not
  • 18:58 - 19:01
    Faraday future. It is not Google. It is
  • 19:01 - 19:04
    not Tesla. That is the reason for those
  • 19:04 - 19:07
    tax abatements. It is you and I. It is us
  • 19:07 - 19:09
    sitting in this room and do that. And I
  • 19:09 - 19:11
    will tell you that this was known. There
  • 19:11 - 19:14
    was not a surprise to anyone that this
  • 19:14 - 19:17
    is what was going to happen. So ladies
  • 19:17 - 19:18
    and gentlemen, what I would like to tell
  • 19:18 - 19:19
    you when we think about the fiscal
  • 19:19 - 19:21
    system is. Will there be growth? Will
  • 19:21 - 19:24
    taxable retail sales go up? Yes, they will.
  • 19:24 - 19:26
    Will property values go up? Yes,
  • 19:26 - 19:29
    they will. Will this lead to significant
  • 19:29 - 19:31
    increases in the funding for education
  • 19:31 - 19:35
    in the state of Nevada? No, it will not. I
  • 19:35 - 19:39
    would implore you to galvanize to unify
  • 19:39 - 19:42
    around making real and meaningful
  • 19:42 - 19:45
    changes to the way in which we fund
  • 19:45 - 19:48
    schools in the state of Nevada. The
  • 19:48 - 19:52
    Nevada plan needs to go the distributive
  • 19:52 - 19:55
    school account.
  • 19:57 - 20:00
    The distributive school account needs to
  • 20:00 - 20:03
    be revised and be more reflective of
  • 20:03 - 20:06
    what how schools need to be funded today.
  • 20:06 - 20:09
    If I am paying money, that is called the
  • 20:09 - 20:11
    local school support tax. And that money
  • 20:11 - 20:14
    falls out of the bottom of that budget. I
  • 20:14 - 20:17
    would like to know that those one shots
  • 20:17 - 20:20
    that surplus should be available to fund
  • 20:20 - 20:23
    one-time appropriations for schools. If I
  • 20:23 - 20:25
    am paying the majority of my property
  • 20:25 - 20:28
    tax, and it says school capital. And it
  • 20:28 - 20:31
    says school operating. I don't want to
  • 20:31 - 20:32
    hear that any of the money that's
  • 20:32 - 20:34
    falling out of the bottom of that is
  • 20:34 - 20:35
    redirected into the state's general fund.
  • 20:35 - 20:38
    And used for some other purpose, I will
  • 20:38 - 20:45
    tell you that there is, thank you. I will
  • 20:45 - 20:47
    tell you that there is not only an
  • 20:47 - 20:50
    increasing momentum among the folks in
  • 20:50 - 20:52
    Carson City, but also an increasing
  • 20:52 - 20:56
    understanding. This was designed to be
  • 20:56 - 20:59
    intentionally opaque. It was, in design, to
  • 20:59 - 21:01
    be difficult. It will take time to get
  • 21:01 - 21:04
    people to understand that these changes
  • 21:04 - 21:08
    need to be made. Now, I don't know how
  • 21:08 - 21:10
    hard. Look, I know how hard every one of
  • 21:10 - 21:12
    you worked. I guess what I'm trying to
  • 21:12 - 21:14
    say is, I don't know if people know how
  • 21:14 - 21:17
    hard that Pat and Nicole work up in
  • 21:17 - 21:19
    Carson City to try and educate people
  • 21:19 - 21:22
    about these changes. The only word that I
  • 21:22 - 21:25
    can come up to explain, it is tireless. A
  • 21:25 - 21:28
    tireless effort to try and get people to
  • 21:28 - 21:30
    understand it, but for those who
  • 21:30 - 21:33
    represent you and the folks who work for
  • 21:33 - 21:36
    you. Every day, they have also got to
  • 21:36 - 21:39
    change their focus. The reality is, if we
  • 21:39 - 21:41
    look at something, we say, "Oh look, the
  • 21:41 - 21:44
    state legislature gave us raises." They
  • 21:44 - 21:46
    put it into the distributive school
  • 21:46 - 21:47
    account without any understanding
  • 21:47 - 21:50
    whatsoever of the totality of that
  • 21:50 - 21:52
    account and how it works. And the some
  • 21:52 - 21:54
    light up look over here, don't look over
  • 21:54 - 21:54
    there.
  • 21:54 - 21:57
    Nature of that account while at the same
  • 21:57 - 22:00
    time requiring an ending fund, balance
  • 22:00 - 22:03
    that. If your household maintained $10 in
  • 22:03 - 22:06
    your bank account, or my business
  • 22:06 - 22:08
    maintained a hundred dollars in my bank
  • 22:08 - 22:10
    account. given the fact that there
  • 22:10 - 22:12
    is instability in things like property
  • 22:12 - 22:14
    tax and imperfection and things like
  • 22:14 - 22:17
    taxable retail sales, who is left holding
  • 22:17 - 22:20
    the bag when property caches come in
  • 22:20 - 22:23
    slightly under expectation? Who is left
  • 22:23 - 22:26
    holding the bag when sales facts come in
  • 22:26 - 22:30
    slightly under expectation? Who is left
  • 22:30 - 22:31
    holding the bag?
  • 22:31 - 22:34
    The answer is teachers, and the students
  • 22:34 - 22:36
    in those classrooms, and the reason, where
  • 22:36 - 22:38
    we see it manifest is the fact that
  • 22:38 - 22:40
    every year, class sizes get larger,
  • 22:40 - 22:42
    because that is the only leveraging
  • 22:42 - 22:44
    mechanism that we have to balance. The
  • 22:44 - 22:47
    budget is to jam more kids into every
  • 22:47 - 22:48
    classroom. Ladies and gentlemen, that is
  • 22:48 - 22:49
    unacceptable.
  • 22:49 - 22:52
    For the state of Nevada, we have got to
  • 22:52 - 23:01
    find a way to fix it from an economic
  • 23:01 - 23:04
    standpoint. Our community is doing well
  • 23:04 - 23:07
    and will continue to do. Well, from a
  • 23:07 - 23:10
    fiscal standpoint, we will continue to
  • 23:10 - 23:12
    improve, but the prosperity of our
  • 23:12 - 23:14
    economy will not be equal by the
  • 23:14 - 23:17
    prosperity of our fiscal system. If we do
  • 23:17 - 23:19
    not fix it, it will be a continuing
  • 23:19 - 23:22
    problem. The jobs that will continue to
  • 23:22 - 23:25
    be created in this state, and I think we
  • 23:25 - 23:27
    owe a debt of gratitude, not only to
  • 23:27 - 23:29
    Governor Sandoval, but also to a
  • 23:29 - 23:32
    gentleman by the name of Steve Hill, who
  • 23:32 - 23:35
    has changed the perception of the state
  • 23:35 - 23:37
    of Nevada, who has completely changed it
  • 23:37 - 23:39
    from an economic development standpoint.
  • 23:39 - 23:41
    We in this state,
  • 23:41 - 23:44
    we in this state have created 10,000 new
  • 23:44 - 23:48
    employers since 2011. Call governor Sandoval,
  • 23:48 - 23:49
    good, call governor Sandoval.
  • 23:49 - 23:53
    I don't care. He's probably both. He
  • 23:53 - 23:55
    is a remarkable governor who cares about
  • 23:55 - 23:57
    the future and has done a great many
  • 23:57 - 23:59
    things for this school district, and for
  • 23:59 - 24:01
    this state that will be the driving
  • 24:01 - 24:04
    force that pushes this economy forward
  • 24:04 - 24:07
    during the economic downturn we had an
  • 24:07 - 24:10
    economic problem. First, we had a fiscal
  • 24:10 - 24:13
    problem second. Today, we have fixed the
  • 24:13 - 24:16
    economic problem. Let me be clear about
  • 24:16 - 24:18
    this fact we are no longer in recession.
  • 24:18 - 24:22
    We are clearly in expansion. We have 15
  • 24:22 - 24:24
    billion dollars worth of
  • 24:24 - 24:25
    that are planned, proposed and under
  • 24:25 - 24:28
    construction and everybody other than I
  • 24:28 - 24:30
    think my brother-in-law has a job right?
  • 24:30 - 24:36
    I didn't say which brother-in-law, just
  • 24:36 - 24:40
    to be clear in case, anyone knows them.
  • 24:42 - 24:45
    This will create opportunity but the
  • 24:45 - 24:47
    continuation of that opportunity
  • 24:47 - 24:53
    absent a legitimate long conversation
  • 24:53 - 24:55
    about how we fund schools. So that every
  • 24:55 - 24:58
    two years, we're not arguing about two
  • 24:58 - 25:01
    percent. We're not arguing about one
  • 25:01 - 25:02
    pupil. We're not arguing about one
  • 25:02 - 25:05
    program. But we are arguing about how to
  • 25:05 - 25:08
    get this school district, and this state
  • 25:08 - 25:11
    from where it is today to a leader in
  • 25:11 - 25:13
    education in this country, and I think
  • 25:13 - 25:16
    that is within our grasp. And we are at
  • 25:16 - 25:18
    least taking steps in that direction
  • 25:18 - 25:20
    respecting the fact that my time is
  • 25:20 - 25:22
    about coming to an end, I do want to do
  • 25:22 - 25:25
    two things: number one, I want to thank
  • 25:25 - 25:27
    the Clark County School District for
  • 25:27 - 25:29
    everything that they have done, and all
  • 25:29 - 25:32
    of you for what you have given me. I also
  • 25:32 - 25:34
    do want to extend the thanks to the most
  • 25:34 - 25:37
    important teacher in my life, who is my
  • 25:37 - 25:39
    wife. She is a first-grade teacher at
  • 25:39 - 25:43
    Wolfe Elementary,
  • 25:47 - 25:51
    and she reminds me every single day that
  • 25:51 - 25:56
    being a teacher is not necessarily a job
  • 25:56 - 26:00
    or profession. It is a calling, and for so
  • 26:00 - 26:04
    many of you people say the children are
  • 26:04 - 26:06
    our future, your future,
  • 26:06 - 26:08
    I think an equal part of that is
  • 26:08 - 26:11
    the folks who have made the decision
  • 26:11 - 26:13
    made the commitment to commit so much of
  • 26:13 - 26:16
    their time, energy, their love, and frankly,
  • 26:16 - 26:20
    so much of their money to educating the
  • 26:20 - 26:22
    students in this community, including my
  • 26:22 - 26:24
    children with that. Thank you very, very
  • 26:24 - 26:26
    much.
Title:
Back to School Kickoff Keynote Speaker: Jeremy Aguero of Applied Analysis
Description:

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Video Language:
English
Duration:
26:25

English subtitles

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