VEGAS INC Coverage
I’ve been having a version of the same dream for more than two decades now. And for those who don’t have recurring dreams and are skeptical about the existence of such things, I say “Phooey!” They’re real. At least they are for me. So here it is: I’m in my college apartment and I wake up in a panic because I’ve overslept and I’m late to take my last final exam. As I run across the campus—this part is eerie because I can smell the trees and feel the moist lawn beneath my feet—I arrive at the locked door of the classroom where Dr. Strong, my favorite professor, says he’s sorry, but I missed the exam and can’t graduate. At the very moment when the reality of that statement sets in and panic enters my body, I snap awake quite shaken. I’ve dreamed a version of this no less than three dozen times over the years. As tough as this narrative is, my friends point out that at least I’m dressed in my dream so not to exacerbate an already unpleasant situation. That’s a pretty flimsy silver lining, but I’ll take it.
My theory for why I keep having this dream is pretty straightforward: When it comes to school, I’m a closet worrier and have always taken on more than I should. In college, it wasn’t enough to graduate with a bachelor’s in political science; I had to be the editor of the school’s newspaper, "The Tulane Hullabaloo," at least a 40-hour-a-week job, and then try to become the single-most, um, social person on campus. (I’ll let you interpret what that actually means.) So, yes, I’ve always felt pressure because I was, in fact, under a lot of pressure.
Now comes the full disclosure part of our program: I’ve always been that kid in the classroom who knew the answer to the question the teacher was posing. And, very early on, I became acutely aware that no one likes that kid—no one. So I stayed quiet and instead became adept at the social aspect of my school experience and, frankly, flourished. But not suppressing my smarts entirely, they manifested during exams. I remember as early as third grade in Mrs. Weprin’s class when she gave us a multiple-choice test that I finished in what seemed seconds flat. She took my exam and mouthed the word “Wow!” I held on to that positive reinforcement. From then on, it became my own game—how fast could I finish a written exam? I might be fuzzy on this, but I don’t recall anyone turning in an exam before me in any class at any time. I didn’t get every answer right, but I always felt prepared to take the test.
I’ve been harking back to my school days lately as I ponder the massive economic problems facing Las Vegas. As you can imagine, as EIC of VEGAS INC, our city’s financial woes are something I think quite a lot about. Make no mistake: The economic reality we’re battling is nearly biblical in scope. But as we discuss for the umpteenth time the city’s home foreclosures, unemployment rate, upside-down mortgages and, the whopper of all business buzzwords in this town, diversification, three separate but connected statistics keep blasting in my brain. Hold on to your hats, folks.
1. A jaw-dropping 14.3 percent of Nevadans are college graduates. Fewer than two of every ten adults in this state have a college degree. That explains so much. Nearly everything, actually.
2. The high school graduation rate in Nevada is a shameful—and shocking—44.3 percent, by far the worst in the nation. Do I even need to elaborate on that statistic?
3. Nevada, predictably and tragically, ranks in the bottom five states in funding their schools. Are all the legislators’ and governor’s children in boarding schools? Are these folks not parents?
So before everyone gets all defensive and points out that Las Vegas is a factory town (think Detroit) and exempt from the standard rules of large metropolitan areas because we were able to get well-paying jobs without college degrees, let me ask one thing: How’s that working out for us?
But before we blame business organizations for the lack of economic diversification here, organizations such as the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce or the Nevada Development Authority—both entities have had their bouts of ineffectual leadership who’ve made boneheaded moves to be sure—I’m laying the blame squarely on the shoulders of those responsible: Spineless elected state officials who by not doubling down on education have ignored the future of this state in the name of some libertarian live-and-let-live credo Nevada is apparently so proud of. Granted, I may not be from around here, but I have to deem possible that the fundamental moral (and business-first) principle of educating our children and preparing them for college for a chance at a better future has to fit in with our state’s core belief system. Doesn’t it?
Is it any wonder we don’t have a significant museum to call our own? I’m scared, folks. At least I wake up from my recurring dream. All of us—right now—are living through an education-infused nightmare. Isn’t it time we woke up?