No One Asked Me But… (January 23, 2019)

By DR. LARRY MOSES

No one asked me but… There is an old Blue Grass song entitled “Forty Acres.” It deals with a long haul trucker who ends up in Boston trying to maneuver his big rig. The crux of the song deals with turning the vehicle around as it is headed in the wrong direction. The driver laments the fact that he is hampered by the restrictions of the city, and if they would give him forty acres he could turn the truck around. Clark County School District Superintendent Dr. Jesus Jara may well be able to identify with the driver’s dilemma. Dr. Jara is attempting to turn the fifth largest school district around in a very congested space.

In 2017, the Nevada State Legislature attempted to turn the District around through the use of State Law. As Dr. Jara’s attempts to turn the District in the right direction, he may very well find himself impeded by NRS. 388G 500-810 which was instituted by the legislature hopes of correcting the horrible educational conditions left by the rule, or lack thereof, of his predecessor the self-proclaimed “benevolent” dictator. Fortunately, two of the most divisive board members are now gone. One was term limited out and the other was defeated in the last general election.

In the short time Dr. Jara has been here, he has established himself as an efficient and effective leader. Under his direction, for the first time in a decade or more, all the contracts for the employees of the district have been settled. This was accomplished when Dr. Jara removed the District’s long time chief negotiator and instructed those left in charge of negotiations with the District’s various labor organizations to settle the contracts.

Dr. Jara in his effort to make the district less top heavy and more efficient has developed a management model that may not comply with NRS 388 G. 620.1. However, to turn this rig around, it may take some creative maneuvering. Dr. Jara’s management organization has scraped the sixteen School Associate Superintendents thus returning the responsibility for managing the schools to the local school principal and his School Organizational Team, where it belongs. This has resulted in the removal of two levels of administrative over sight and the savings of over a million dollars. While it may be a violation of the law, it is a positive step in the management of the Clark County School District.

Dr. Jara has identified the challenges facing the Clark County School District and has set about putting the right individuals in place to solve those problems. In the short conversation I had with Dr. Jara, I came out with the distinct impression that he will set the goals to be reached in the next five years. I also believe that he understands the people closest to the problem will be the ones most likely to come up with the solutions to the problems. I believe he will allow the people on site the leeway to determine how to reach those goals. Reaching the goals will be the determining factor of success. Under the “benevolent dictator” and his henchmen, micromanagement ran wild. All the local administrators and teachers were responsible for was successfully carrying out his dictates. I believe Dr. Jara will hold his people responsible for results rather than processes.

Some may be worried about the fact that some of the plans Dr. Jara has are in conflict with the NRS 388G, but I for one agree with Thomas Edison when he replied to a new employee who asked him what rules must be observed to work in his laboratory? Edison yelled out, “…there ain’t no rules around here! We are tryin’ to accomplish somep’n!” I believe this is the approach Dr. Jara needs to take. Keeping in mind the reorganization law would never have existed if the previous superintendent had a clue as to how to run a school district, I would call on the Nevada Department of Education and the 2019 Legislature to modify the State Law to give Dr. Jara the forty acres he needs to turn this bemouth of a district around.

While it may be a little early to climb completely on the Jara Bandwagon, it is certainly time to tune up your instruments. I believe we need to be ready to support the new band director as he has displayed the willingness to recognize the shortcomings of the District. He further has begun setting goals and selecting the right people to develop plans and see those plans are carried out to successfully reach those goals.

No one asked me but… One might think cooler heads could prevail in the border security dispute between President Trump (R), Senate Minority Leader Schumer (D) and Speaker of the House Pelosi (D). One might at least hope the debate on border security would take on a smidgen of civility. But no, a childish exchange has taken place between President Trump and Speaker Pelosi. One begins to wonder if there are any adults left in Washington, D.C. Speaker Pelosi attempted to embarrass, humiliate, and intimidate President Trump by threatening to cancel the traditional State of the Union message. Speaker Pelosi sited security issues due to the partial shut-down. This was clearly a move to embarrass the President. Speaker Pelosi apparently does not understand that you cannot embarrass this President, and by disrespecting the office of the President of the United States, she is playing in to President Trump’s strength.

Apparently, Speaker Pelosi forgot who she was dealing with when she tried to intimidate the President. President Trump quickly retaliated against the Speaker by cancelling the military transportation for Pelosi and her minion’s trip to Afghanistan. Not only did he cancel the transportation, he waited until the last minute to do so. Many of the Democrat congressmen were already aboard a bus to take them to Andrews Airbase to fly them out. President Trump indicated in a letter to Pelosi that she should remain in Washington and continue to try and resolve the border safety issue. He further cited the fact that due to the shut-down, there was not enough security for the legislators as they travel the world. So, using his authority as Command In Chief of the American Armed Forces he cancelled the flight. He did, however, indicate that Pelosi and her band were welcome to fly commercial.

Thought of the week… “Crying is all right in its way while it lasts. But you have to stop sooner or later, and then you still have to decide what to do.”
― C.S. Lewis