High school grad rate low in county

By Timothy Pratt (contact)

Friday, Dec. 12, 2003 | 11:13 a.m.

About eight of 10 adults in the Las Vegas Valley had finished high school in 2002, placing the area near the bottom of the nation in that category, a Census Bureau report issued Thursday said.

The report, based on a yearly survey, said that 81.7 percent of Clark County residents 25 and older had graduated from high school -- ranking the county 183rd of 231 nationwide. Although the percentage is only slightly lower than it was in 2001, when it was 82.8, the county's ranking was much higher that year -- 153rd.

Louis Kincannon, bureau director, said the survey was important because "planners and policymakers have told us that they use education data such as these to attract businesses and jobs to their areas."

But Jennifer Day, the researcher for the bureau who worked on the report, said Southern Nevada's numbers are the exception to that rule, since thousands move here seeking work that doesn't require a high school diploma.

"Everybody knows about Las Vegas being the opposite of what you'd expect," Day said. "It is a boom town ... that has attracted people for jobs that don't require a high level of educational attainment."

Keith Schwer, director of the Center for Business and Economic Research at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas, said that Southern Nevada is in a unique situation.

"We have relatively high salaries tied to non-educated positions," he said.

Day said the survey "doesn't reflect what is going on in the (Clark County) School District, but is more a reflection of what kinds of people are moving to the area."

But some of the same jobs attracting people from elsewhere tempt local high school students. That poses a challenge for Jane Kadoich, director of guidance services for the district. She oversees about 120 high school counselors whose jobs include persuading students to get their diploma.

"You do have kids coming into your office saying they want to park cars and don't need to finish high school," she said.

"You try to paint a bigger picture and ask them if they want to be doing that when they're 55."

Tony Alamo, senior vice president of the Mandalay Resort Group, said the educational level of the valley's residents could be higher, but that there's another side to the coin.

"(The report) is not what you want to hear ... but on the other hand, I am very proud that this industry provides so many jobs for so many people -- especially for those who are not fortunate enough to acquire an education," Alamo said.

As for how having a town with one industry that attracts an uneducated workforce bodes for the future, Alamo said, "every community would like to achieve a diversified economy -- that would be ideal -- but things are the way they are."

Schwer said, "under most circumstances, tomorrow will continue to be like today" when it comes to the Las Vegas economy.

But Kadoich said she thinks more and more parents want their children to go on to college, and the district is working with them to reach that goal.

She mentioned a new link on the district's website offering information to parents about sending their children to college and said that more than 5,165 of last year's 9,704 high school graduates qualified for the state-run Millennium Scholarship for college.

"We're seeing more parents who say, 'I served cocktails but want for more my children,' "