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Group recommends giving school boards more authority
REVIEW-JOURNAL CAPITAL BUREAU
Updated: Mar. 24, 2011 | 8:18 a.m.
CARSON CITY -- Mandatory collective bargaining for Nevada teachers must end and the decisions of how to run schools should be turned back to the elected school board members, a conservative think tank study concludes.
The Nevada Policy Research Institute study, which was released Wednesday, says teacher unions have gained enormous power through the state's 1969 collective bargaining law and can block schools from firing bad teachers and frustrate their ability to cope with recessions.
"Given today's realities, mandatory collective bargaining of the current stripe is mandatory collective suicide for Nevada's students and taxpayers," according to Greg Moo, a former teacher, principal and educational administrator in Alaska, Montana and Oregon.
"It's time for the makers of the rules to change the rules -- so the game can be played as much to the benefit of student learners as to the benefit of teacher unions."
The Las Vegas-based think tank's policies are often backed by Republican legislators. In fact, Assembly Republicans have made the end of mandatory collective bargaining by public unions one of their goals.
But from statements made in his study, Moo knows that the Democratic majority in the Assembly and Senate likely won't be persuaded to back his plan.
"Counting out the teacher unions would be foolish. Under NRS 288 (collective bargaining laws) they are strong, unafraid and well-financed. And they have powerful friends in high places," he states.
Assembly Speaker John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas, said there is little chance the Legislature would back the NPRI recommendations, pointing out that Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval also does not favor ending collective bargaining.
Sandoval asked legislators to disregard a bill prepared by former Gov. Jim Gibbons that would have ended collective bargaining by public worker unions. Sandoval said he wants to work on collective bargaining reforms with legislative leaders.
He also has proposed legislation to give out education vouchers and end teacher tenure. The governor also wants teachers to take a 5 percent pay cut and contribute 5.9 percent more of their income toward their retirement pension costs.
Nevada State Education Association President Lynn Warne called the study a "misleading report" that is an attack on public schools and their 28,000 members.
"Collective bargaining does not stand as an impediment to innovation, to reform, or student achievement. On the contrary, collective bargaining laws ensure our students receive a quality education," Wrane said.
"Additionally, collective bargaining allows for teachers and education support professionals to focus on what they are hired to do -- educate our kids. It allows for matters related to working and learning conditions -- curriculum, class size, work load, salaries and benefits, etc. -- to be acceptable for students to succeed."
Warne said the states with the highest student achievement rates are strong union states with collective bargaining laws.
Moo emphasized some of the problems with collective bargaining could be alleviated if legislators would create a tax-supported voucher system available to all parents.
"If parents could choose which schools their children attend, schools would compete for students and teacher unions would become more like their private-sector union counterparts, since their success or failure would depend on the success or failure of the enterprise from which they draw their income."
Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901.
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Well put virgil. The teachers do not make administrative policy, nor do they allow gang members and drug users to attend class and f**k up the learning of the regular students; administrators do.
Flood our schools with the children of undocumented, illegal aliens and then blame teachers for the lack of achievement of these children. Never mind that 40% of the children in our schools cannot comprehend, read, write or speak English...blame the teachers. Don't mandate that the parents be responsible for their child's education; Don't hold parent accountable for student behaviors, dressing like ghetto gangsters, failing to do homework, causing disruption and major discipline problems in classes. No, it's not their fault it is the fault of the overpaid, over unionized, under worked teachers. Don't make parents or students accountable for lack of attendance or excessive tardiness...blame the teachers.
Reduce the salaries of these unionized teachers, don't encourage advanced graduate work in their academic fields of concentration, impose a yet to be detailed merit pay system to offer unknown and unspecified salary rewards for unknown levels of achievement. Continue to feed the public propoganda that education is not that important, that teachers are not really that important, that books, pencils, paper and other teaching supplies and technology are not important. Play up the idea that private schools provide a better level of education not because of excellence but because of the fact that private schools do not operate with the same level of problems dealing with illiterate immigrant students, coddling and catering to special education misfits, and having the power to be exclusive in who they admit to their schools. It is always the teachers fault; any brainless administrator or ignorant journalist will tell you that!!!
Clue one: people with "opposing" ideas on how to deal with ongoing fiscal issues did NOT CAUSE THE PROBLEM. Clue two: We must DOWNSIZE K-16. 1/4-1/2 of the "educators" have got to go. The sooner the better. The sooner our economy can stagger bag to an upright position. We've just started losing population and it's gonna get worse. Hopefully, many of the illegals will step south out of here on their own. We cannot afford K-12 with an educator for every 17 students, including 100,000 illegal students. Sure "educators" includes the licensed personnel who "used to teach." We still can't afford them. And we cannot afford pay scales that start at $90K for tenured teachers with seniority. Clue three: The essential government services have suffered a decade of cuts while the schools geared up spending year after year. Time to RESTORE ESSENTIAL GOVERNMENT SERVICES AND DOWN SIZE K-16. Clue four: Business does NOT look for education until they've met all their real needs. We CANNOT AFFORD TO RAISE REVENUE. Increased taxes on property and people means MORE FORECLOSURES. Not the way to go.
Troutslayer, you couldn't be more wrong about school vouchers. School vouchers help parents and students of schools that refuse to be proficient for whatever reason. Many of these crappy schools are in low income neighborhoods. The school choice option gives EVERYONE the opportunity to succeed.
Look, you are allowed to hate the Republican parthy, whatever floats your boat. But please do not reject an idea that could help each and every poor parent in this state get a better education for their child.
mrability wrote,"To All Unions Get The F out of the public/parasite sector losers" That is exactly what the Fascists did in Nazi Germany. Mr Ability you have made yourself clear. Yes, you have fascist beliefs. No surprise. Now put that arm down. By the way, those brown shirts and boots are out of style.
Anyone who continuously generalizes and puts all unions in the same boat is brainwashed as much as good old MRABILITY. There are corrupt unions that abuse their power. Whether you choose to believe it or not that is not the case with the teachers union in Nevada. Many teachers refuse to join the union because they think its powerless. Once teachers are allowed to deal with discipline problems appropriately and second language students can get the help they need then and only then should teachers be evaluated by test scores.
Let me make this clear. The teachers union in Nevada has little power. This is not Wisconsin. When the powers to be are willing to deal with what causes our schools to fail then and only then should people be complaining about the quality of teachers. Until teachers are once again allowed control in their classrooms, which is probably how many people remember school, evaulations of teachers will not be appropriate.
To mrability: GET A CLUE!
carlo.poliak: Good point. I would love to see an auto shop stay open without proper tools. What is going on with teachers is unbelievable. And quite honestly, it is what the district wants everyone to do...blame the teacher so the public doesn't look too closely at what the district is up to. Don't you wonder why the district won't publish the real budjet for public scrutiny?
To All Unions
Get The F out of the public/parasite sector
losers