To the readers of The Sunday, thank you

By Brian Greenspun (contact)

Sunday, Feb. 16, 2014 | 2 a.m.

Thank you for having enough faith in the people at the Greenspun Media Group who have worked hard to bring you something new in print media. You have picked up many tens of thousands of copies of The Sunday and read them cover to cover.

How do I know? Because we have heard from so many of you about the stories you liked, that you felt were relevant to your lives and that you would like to see more of in coming weeks. We have heard from advertisers who took a leap of faith on a new product and have seen results beyond their expectations. And I have heard from the potentially harshest critic — my wife, Myra — who said she liked it!

She had no idea how cars got onto casino floors, wasn’t too interested in making beer at home (although she admitted there are probably plenty of people who are inclined to do that), and cringed at the story of the tragic death of Debbie Flores Narvaez and its aftermath. And so much more.

Myra spent most of her time reading about the financial costs and the physical toll that youth sports take on our young people.

Parents and grandparents: Is it worth the costs and risks to allow young children to focus heavily on athletics?

What The Sunday provided to readers across the valley is relevance. Stories that mean something to families, single people and working people who yearn for the kind of credible information that will help readers make better decisions for themselves and their families.

So here we are, in the second issue of The Sunday. As I did last week, I am asking for your comments, criticisms and suggestions about how to make this product more readable, more relevant and more a part of your Sundays.

That brings me to another reader’s reaction to the youth sports story. She used it as a jumping-off point to reflect on the funding levels of the Clark County School District and why our public schools rank at the bottom of practically every measurement of educational success.

Readers who follow Sun reporter Paul Takahashi’s excellent coverage of K-12 education know that when it comes to money for schools, Las Vegans are quite stingy, which directly correlates to how we rank on these lists.

There are a hundred reasons why funding levels for public education in Las Vegas are so low. And only one good reason why they need to be higher. And until everyone understands the connection between good schools and a prosperous country, we will continue appealing to the least common denominator in society.

And that is what we will get. The least. In fact, we are getting pretty much that now at all levels of government. If you like it, by all means continue what you are doing, which isn’t much.

But if you care about your kids, what they are learning and the future they will have, then jump on a bandwagon that is beginning to roll through Southern Nevada. Business, teacher and parent groups are starting to believe that we can meaningfully change the way our schools are funded. By doing so, we will remove the largest impediment to quality education.

We will do our part at The Sunday, in the Las Vegas Sun, on lasvegassun.com and in our numerous publications that are committed to bringing you the information you need to make good decisions for you and your family.

After all, our kids are only young once. We owe it to them and we owe it to our community to get this right. Right now.