Workman Chronicles 

By Morris Workman

"School District Split"

January 31, 2006

There is a move afoot to split up the Las Vegas School District .

(Yes, I know they are technically the “ Clark County School District ,” but trust me, the LVSD title is more accurate.)

There are certain bureaucrats who believe the bureaucrats at the school district have become unresponsive to the needs of the students and communities.

This is known as “pots calling the kettle black,” or whatever cute euphemism you were raised with.

The LVSD is the fifth-largest school district in the country, although Las Vegas is only the 29th largest city.

They get their extra muscle because they also own Mesquite , Boulder City , Henderson , and a few other outlying areas.

The word “own” is used advisedly, because that is how the district treats these municipalities.

It’s not surprising that someone has pointed to this governmental wooly mammoth and said that maybe it should be changed.

“Broken up” is the term they’ve used.

What IS surprising is the silence coming from Mesquite .

Once upon a time, there was a group of people who decided they were tired of being picked on, ignored, lied to, bullied, and insulted by their ruling authority.

They weren’t treated as badly as Mesquite is treated by the school district, but they decided not to just sit back and take it.

It was called the Civil War.

After the way this burgeoning desert community has been disregarded and disrespected by the school board, you would think the residents would be ready to light the torches and sharpen their pitchforks for the coming debate.

But then, there were probably fence sitters in 1863 who really “didn’t want to get involved.”

Overall, residents of Mesquite have been conspicuously silent on the issue, although they would benefit the most from such a divestiture.

As one of the fastest-growing cities in the U.S., awaiting the addition of 10,000 new taxpayers in the Pulte development, not to mention the enormous construction project pending just across the Lincoln County line that will bring hundreds of new students, this is a community that needs its own school district.

And if the state gives the Mesquite School District a proportional share of the tax and gaming revenues currently wasted on the gluttonous Las Vegas version, school money would not be an issue.

Best of all, the people of Mesquite would finally have a say over how their schools are run and their children taught instead of lumping them in with an urban protocol that is becoming less and less attractive with each passing year.

And yet, the silence continues.

It’s hard to believe that an oppressed populace that has to beg for every scrap and morsel of school district largesse would be so neutral.

Maybe I’m overreacting.

It’s not like they’re talking about changing the slot machine comp points at the Oasis or something equally earth-shaking.

So the status quo will continue in Mesquite .

We’ll have to take what they give us, and go to the city council for anything we really need for our kids, like sports field lights or tennis courts.

And I’m sure we’ll get used to dealing with children who become more and more worldly and politically correct with the curriculum and standards mandated by a city where prostitution is trumpeted on lighted roaming billboards.

So let’s move on to something more important.

Have you heard they’re raising the price at the buffet? 

Published online at the Workman Chronicles WebLog January 31, 2006.

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