‘No new taxes’ might not be best course for Nevada

Patricia Sethaler, Spring Creek

Saturday, April 23, 2011 | 2:01 a.m.

Although I am a registered Republican, I have never voted a straight ticket. I believe for the good of Nevada, we might need to rethink the “no new taxes” philosophy.

We cannot balance the budget on the back of education and social services. Even if you eliminated all expenses from education and social services, you would come up short. To burden teachers with lower salaries, fewer benefits, fear of being fired for reasons that are just ridiculous and more students is to reduce teachers to the role of temporary hired hands.

To burden our state with a future workforce of undereducated citizens is unfair to them and the state.

Money to fund an adequate education for children today and in the future may require new taxes. You cannot go to the gas station and be prepared to pay 1976 prices and neither can you educate the masses with larger classes, teachers who have moved on to the private sector, and less teaching equipment.

Perhaps we need to rethink “no new taxes” or rethink our method of taxation. Something does need to change or Nevada is going to be at the bottom of the barrel — in our workforce of the future and in being able to create jobs as well as living conditions.

The writer is a public schoolteacher.