Titus lures education endorsements - News

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Sep. 04, 2008
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

Titus lures education endorsements

By RICHARD LAKE
REVIEW-JOURNAL

Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, speaks Wednesday in support of state Sen. Dina Titus, who is challenging incumbent Rep. Jon Porter, R-Nev.
Photo by Craig L. Moran.

The Nevada State Education Association endorsed Democrat Dina Titus in her run for Congress Wednesday.

So did the Nevada Faculty Alliance, through its political action committee.

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Titus has been a state senator for 20 years and a professor at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas for 30 years. She commonly receives these endorsements.

The announcement also was used as an opportunity to highlight incumbent Republican Rep. Jon Porter's voting record, which the Titus campaign said shows him siding with President Bush 93 percent of the time.

"Time and again, he walked lock-step with George Bush," said Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., chairman of the House Democratic Caucus, who attended the endorsement announcement for Titus. "He's the ultimate rubber-stamp Republican."

Porter, through a spokesman, wasted no time in firing back.

"Titus gets an 'F' for ensuring Nevada kids receive a quality education," said Porter spokesman Matt Leffingwell in an e-mail.

The 3rd Congressional District race is expected to be one of the hardest-fought campaigns of the year and is drawing significant resources from partisan organizations. The National Republican Congressional Committee has reserved $590,000 worth of local television ad time to air pro-Porter commercials. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee plans to spend $916,000 on Titus' behalf.

In announcing its endorsement, Nevada State Education Association Vice President Doug Bache, a former state assemblyman, said Titus underwent a "rigorous" interview with the group. The association is an umbrella organization for Nevada teachers' unions.

Porter refused to meet with them, Bache said.

"I know Dina will maintain her strong, independent Nevada ways," Bache said.

George Brown, a UNLV history professor who works with Titus, announced the Nevada Faculty Alliance's PAC is endorsing Titus.

"This is really a choice between the very good and the bad," he said.

Porter was bashed for failing to support a variety of education initiatives that Democrats favor, such as financial aid increases and direct-lending of student loans by the government.

Titus was praised as a leader who helped reduce class sizes and increase teacher salaries. She said if elected to Congress, she would work to fully fund the federal No Child Left Behind Act and would work to bring high-tech jobs to Nevada.

Leffingwell laid the blame for Nevada's historically low high-school graduation rate at Titus' feet. He said she "failed to back education reforms and refused to support teacher accountability."

Titus, at the news conference, thanked the teachers' groups for their support.

"I am so proud," she said.

Contact reporter Richard Lake at rlake@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0307.

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Please enter your name Name: Please enter your email Email: Please enter a comment COMMENTS : (word count limit is 300) You have reached the maximum number of words allowed Current Word Count: Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background. UNLVStud wrote on September 04, 2008 06:24 PM: Porter's spokesman sounds like a cry baby. Titus has fought for education in Nevada more than he has. Being a member of the minority party in the Legislature, many of her ideas were killed by the Republicans and their policy of not wanting to educate the public because then they'll grow up to understand that they've been poorly served by their Republican leadership for the last 20 years. Porter has carried that policy to Congress and thus has nothing to show regarding how he's improved education over this past decade. Teachers Union wrote on September 04, 2008 04:25 PM: Who would of thunk it -- the defunct teachers union backing a dumocrat who can't even speak the english language y'all! Steve wrote on September 04, 2008 02:08 PM: WOW...I'm surprised...a Democrat received the endorsement of a "gimme gimme gimme" union (association). Reggie wrote on September 04, 2008 11:31 AM: What a genius.....Education spending has tripled since 1960....WOW...how much has population and inflation grown since then??? Nevada is almost dead last in per pupil funding in the United States. Our schools have recently experienced OVER 130 mil in cuts with more on the horizon. ACR10 from the 2007 session ordered and outside audit of Nevada schools. The firm found that Nevada underfunds by more than 1.3 billion dollars So you ask how much more funding education needs.....Let's start at 1.3 billion and put an end to further budget cuts! KDR81 wrote on September 04, 2008 09:31 AM: If Titus has been involved with education for that long then she clearly knows that per student spending has tripled since 1960. How much more money does she need to fix our educationo system? Educational Progress wrote on September 04, 2008 07:32 AM: Anyone with common sense would vote for Dina Titus when it comes to education. Dina Titus has been an educator for thirty years; she has experience. She has the leadership needed to move Nevada’s education system in the right direction. Sylvia wrote on September 04, 2008 05:38 AM: Deeeeeeeena! Forget about it.