[von949]

Double post

[von949]

Originally Posted by NLVgal

Apparently not diversified enough, or we wouldn't rank highest on practically every negative study out there. We even got a bad rap in Stephen King's "The Stand"

I'm no Vegas lover, but I think the place has a lot to offer. I know some really smart people that live here, we have a lack of natural disasters (knock wood), good roads, plenty of sunshine, and a resilience that has seen us through many predictions of this town's downfall.

We also have good people here who are some of the most generous souls I've ever met. People like yourself who volunteer to help others at Habitat, people at organizations like Three Square, Opportunity Village, Nathan Adelson Hospice.

This town is the Yin and the Yang.

We have the nick name "sin city". We can't appear at the top of too many of the "best" lists by default.

A lot of people in the valley are unaware of the negative studies.(Or just ignore) During soccer practice I may make small talk about Vegas economy and schools with the parents. A lot of them are oblivious to the local bad school stigma. If I bring it up they reply quickly with "my son's school is great". Especially since they volunteer all day at their kid's school. They tell me the teachers and faculty are "superb".

I once heard a couple of parents defend Mojave High, which is rated the worst school in CCSD. Supposedly it is a "terrible school with some of the best teachers in the valley".

Doesn't make any sense to me.






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[BBMW]

To draw distribution centers, they need to do the I-11 project (pushing it all the way to Reno). That puts Vegas in a central position between Phoenix LA, SF, and maybe SLC.

If the then build the Ivanpah airport (with a major cargo facility), you would then have a very nice intermodal cargo hub just east of the Cali border, that has rail, road, and air connections.

[NLVgal]

Originally Posted by von949

We have the nick name "sin city". We can't appear at the top of too many of the "best" lists by default.

A lot of people in the valley are unaware of the negative studies.(Or just ignore) During soccer practice I may make small talk about Vegas economy and schools with the parents. A lot of them are oblivious to the local bad school stigma. If I bring it up they reply quickly with "my son's school is great". Especially since they volunteer all day at their kid's school. They tell me the teachers and faculty are "superb".

I once heard a couple of parents defend Mojave High, which is rated the worst school in CCSD. Supposedly it is a "terrible school with some of the best teachers in the valley".

Doesn't make any sense to me.






Sent from cell...

Mojave has such a pretty campus. If the teachers are good, then the problem has to be the students themselves. I did some time at Western High back in the eighties. That was a pretty rough school, even back then, but it did have some good teachers that stand out in my memory.( A couple of lame ones, too.)

I read that Cimmaron is one of the worst schools in the valley 14 schools earn five-star status in School District's high school rankings - Las Vegas Sun News

My sons graduated from four and five star schools based on the ranking system. See how Las Vegas schools compare - Las Vegas Sun News

I just don't think the CCSD is churning out idiots at the rate the national media would have us believe.

The perception is there though, so if we don't clean it up, our unemployment rate may stay over ten percent as companies don't want to locate branches in areas that are perceived as being filled with a bunch of troglodytes.

[von949]

Originally Posted by NLVgal

Mojave has such a pretty campus. If the teachers are good, then the problem has to be the students themselves. I did some time at Western High back in the eighties. That was a pretty rough school, even back then, but it did have some good teachers that stand out in my memory.( A couple of lame ones, too.)

I think that's what needs to be figured out. Is it bad teachers teaching potentially good students or good teachers trying their best to reach the troubled students. Or maybe bad teachers teaching bad students? Every now and then a rose will pop out.

Or (this is crazy) great teachers teaching great students yet Vegas still churns out terrible test scores with a high drop out rate.


LVRJ just did a story yesterday on 5th year seniors by the way.

http://www.lvrj.com/view/fifth-year-...172232481.html

http://www.lvrj.com/view/fifth-year-...171109181.html


JEFF MOSIER/VIEW
Liberty High School student Sussana Figueroa came back to school for a fifth year in order to earn a diploma. The Clark County School District has more than 700 fifth-year seniors throughout the valley. Administrators said the district made an unprecendented effort this year to bring back those students who needed another year to graduate.



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[NLVgal]

^^ Interesting story. As far as the dropout rate goes, I'm not sure how they collect their data. If a student leaves, but his transcripts are requested from another state, do they remove them from the dropout numbers? If not, their data is off.

An interesting aside, my son said that when he was in high school the kids did not give a fig about any tests that didn't affect their grades or ability to graduate. Some of the tests used to judge students were filled in at random just to mess with the system or go to lunch early. He did graduate.

I just lambasted him for contributing to the state's image problem.

[von949]

We used to take the ASVAB test just to get out of class. It's funny that I didn't know at the time how important that test would be for me.


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[NLVgal]

Originally Posted by BBMW

To draw distribution centers, they need to do the I-11 project (pushing it all the way to Reno). That puts Vegas in a central position between Phoenix LA, SF, and maybe SLC.

If the then build the Ivanpah airport (with a major cargo facility), you would then have a very nice intermodal cargo hub just east of the Cali border, that has rail, road, and air connections.

I think Invanpah was shelved when the visitor count at McCarran dove in the middle of the recession. If you could forward your idea to our local politicos I'd greatly appreciate it. They'd probably ignore you though because they don't like to do things that make sense. ( Monorail that doesn't go to the airport, etc)

[BBMW]

Ivanpah had two purposes, one was passenger overflow from McCarren, the other was to be a cargo hub.

Obviously the economy had taking a chunk out of McCarren's traffic. But it's back on the upward trend. Given the time it would take to build a new airport (maybe 10 years from decision to go till it opens), they might want to take the chance.

And, again, if they build the I-11, it would put a major air cargo hub in the middle for a major interstate crossroads connecting the entire west coast, with a major transcontinental rail running through the middle of it. This has to be useful enough to some companies to make some jobs, not including the jobs created building it.

[VegasGhost]

The city is too transient and I'm pretty sure all these businesses know this. Most people I've known come here to live and wind up leaving after a few months because the job market isn't very lucrative. You have to understand the principle of the thing, really. What kind of people does Vegas attract in the majority?

If Vegas shrinks from the widespread gambling elsewhere, I'm fine with that. Not that I discourage people from trying to come here to buck the economy and improve the way of life, but I've seen way too many people come here for that very purpose and wind up leaving, so what can I tell you? This climate isn't for everyone.