[Onlyliveonce]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

List these "great" schools. Let's see your definition of "great."

To name a few:

Elementary : Lamping, Vanderburg. Twitchel, Givens, and Stanton

Middle : Miller, Rogich, and Greenspun

High School : Palo Verde and Coronado

Magnet : Advanced Tech Academy and NW Career Tech Academy

Also some great private schools here too: Bishop Gorman, Meadows and Challenger

As a parent with two kids in CCSD I have been for years more than happy with the education and the parent, teacher involvement. In addition most if not all the facilities are pretty modern and new. Remember I come from Suffolk County, NY and the schools are much older ( think 1950's ) and overcrowded ( over 30 students in class ). I also was paying over 1000 a month in taxes for these average schools. I hear many rave about the schools on Long Island and while I am sure there are some great schools that is the exception and not the norm.
With out involved parents all bets are off. I see the silver linings in a huge bureaucratic institution such as CCSD. I am blessed to be zoned for some of the listed great schools here in the valley. My home purchase first priority was the zoned schools.
I am living and involved with the dream that you suggest is a nightmare. With all said, we need to do better for all the kids and never stop trying.

[Onlyliveonce]

Originally Posted by BBMW

Be careful what you wish for. If there's a major economic collapse (again), the government will go back to the Keynesian playbook, and dump even more money into the economy (and it's been dumping quite a bit for the last several years already. What would significant inflation do to your retirement plans?

What you have been benefiting from is the shale oil/gas boom. This has had the effect of controlling fuel prices, which has kept other prices in check. If this hadn't happened, we'd be seeing a lot of inflation by now.

Look at what M1 has been doing:

Again I don't want a collapse. I want stagnation and/or slow growth. Later down the road a recession would be OK too.
Answer me this: How does a booming economy help a retired 40 year old ? Please be honest and not just try to argue your point.

[von949]

Originally Posted by Onlyliveonce

Again I don't want a collapse. I want stagnation and/or slow growth. Later down the road a recession would be OK too.
Answer me this: How does a booming economy help a retired 40 year old ? Please be honest and not just try to argue your point.

Overall, I guess you won't benefit from a booming economy if you didn't take advantage of any opportunities during the recession years. Have you given it any thought that maybe you retired too soon? Maybe staying on the force a couple more years to offset the need for a sluggish economy to get by? I see this all the time from some of my old supervisors and friends that retired out of the military too soon or just didn't plan accordingly.

[Onlyliveonce]

Life is too short and I seen enough friends die on the job and not reap the rewards of their work. Cops as a profession have a shorter life span than the general population. In the end we can never have enough money. Therefore it's imperative to retire to a low cost area. The time I spend with my young kids is priceless and I will carry the memories to the grave.

[Onlyliveonce]

Von also remember my pension is only 50% of my pay. However I saved for twenty years with optional programs: tax deferred plan, increased pension contributions and an annuity fund. Only problem it needs to last another 30-40 years, I hope.

[ScoopLV]

I reject those conclusions wholly. It is not imperative to retire to a low-cost area. It is imperative to get to the point where finances simply do not matter anymore. Then go do what you want. I am very, very bad at settling.

And that's why the schools you list as "great," I consider mediocre at best. I'm a product of a great school system. I recognize that I am very fortunate in that respect. When it came time to go to university, I selected the college and program that suited me. There was never any question that I wouldn't be accepted. And I've used that diploma to carry me through my entire professional life. It's the gift that just keeps on giving. When I decided to change careers for the second time, that sheepskin once again opened all the doors for me. Seeking employment has been effortless because of the foundation I laid in primary and secondary school.

And all I ask is that everyone else have the same kind of opportunity that I was given. There will not be equal outcomes. But equal opportunity should be the goal.

That isn't going to happen in Las Vegas.

1) CCSD is dysfunctional to the point of being evil.
2) Las Vegas cannot attract a critical mass of intelligent residents because of its very nature. This means below-average employees across the entire employment spectrum, including teachers. (There are great teachers in the system. There aren't enough of them to balance out the mediocre and below-average teachers. Las Vegas has a signal to noise problem that cannot be fixed.)
3) Point two leads directly to this conclusion: A student's peer group in Las Vegas is going to be below average because Las Vegas is below average. This city simply does not value education. Our drop-out numbers alone prove that. We can say whatever we want about education. Only our actions make a difference. We won't even fund libraries. And peer group is just as important as engaged parents and motivated teachers.

Education in Clark County is a problem with no solutions.

[Everdeen]

*I'm not going to argue with Scoop about education. I'm not going to argue with Scoop about education. I'm not going to argue with Scoop about education. I'm not going to argue with Scoop about education. I'm not going to argue with Scoop about education.*

[NLVgal]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

I reject those conclusions wholly. It is not imperative to retire to a low-cost area. It is imperative to get to the point where finances simply do not matter anymore. Then go do what you want. I am very, very bad at settling.

And that's why the schools you list as "great," I consider mediocre at best. I'm a product of a great school system. I recognize that I am very fortunate in that respect. When it came time to go to university, I selected the college and program that suited me. There was never any question that I wouldn't be accepted. And I've used that diploma to carry me through my entire professional life. It's the gift that just keeps on giving. When I decided to change careers for the second time, that sheepskin once again opened all the doors for me. Seeking employment has been effortless because of the foundation I laid in primary and secondary school.

And all I ask is that everyone else have the same kind of opportunity that I was given. There will not be equal outcomes. But equal opportunity should be the goal.

That isn't going to happen in Las Vegas.

1) CCSD is dysfunctional to the point of being evil.
2) Las Vegas cannot attract a critical mass of intelligent residents because of its very nature. This means below-average employees across the entire employment spectrum, including teachers. (There are great teachers in the system. There aren't enough of them to balance out the mediocre and below-average teachers. Las Vegas has a signal to noise problem that cannot be fixed.)
3) Point two leads directly to this conclusion: A student's peer group in Las Vegas is going to be below average because Las Vegas is below average. This city simply does not value education. Our drop-out numbers alone prove that. We can say whatever we want about education. Only our actions make a difference. We won't even fund libraries. And peer group is just as important as engaged parents and motivated teachers.

Education in Clark County is a problem with no solutions.

Logical fallacy, Scoop. While I agree on most of your points, saying that the problem has no solution is incorrect.

[lvoc]

DC has a very high educational level and very high pay. It also funds its schools at the highest level. But it is in fact a worse school system than CCSD. So apparently Education Level, Income Level and School Funding level will not overcome a student population which is poor and Black.

CCSD has also a significant minority problem in its Hispanic students and particularly those with limited language proficiency.

The top 25% or so if the system does not have that problem and works fine. The bottom 25% has the problem and does not work at all.

It does not appear that anyone has a good idea of how to solve that problem in the low socioeconomic zones with high minority population. It is quite consistent across virtually all the very large school systems.

So that should be the challenge figure how to deal with large minority populations.

In the imterim send your kids to the top end of the schools in Las Vegas.

[Wolfpacker]

Originally Posted by EA

It is a 2% tax on businesses with over 1,000,000 in revenue regardless of profit.
So if you have a business that makes 1,000,000 and your operating expenses are 990,000 you now owe the state 20,000

Is this correct, or is a tax on all revenue above $1 million (meaning you're first $1 million in revenue is tax-free)?