Move education forward

Sunday, June 3, 2012 | 2 a.m.

Education will be a key issue in this election, and we are concerned about how the campaign for the Clark County School Board is shaping up.

The dominant issue so far is the recent fight between the district and the Clark County Education Association over teacher raises. Facing a $64 million budget shortfall, Superintendent Dwight Jones called for eliminating teacher raises to balance the budget. He said it was either that or lay off teachers. The teachers union fought the district and won in arbitration, and the School District said it would issue layoff notices to 1,015 teachers and literacy specialists.

Now, with early voting in progress, the union is on the offensive. It began airing a radio ad targeting School Board member Deanna Wright, who is facing a primary challenge. The ad complains about her vote to support Jones’ budget-cutting plan, and it will attempt to help Wright’s primary challengers, notably Mary Ella Holloway, a former teachers union president.

The ad is part of a broader effort to undercut the superintendent, who has been on an aggressive push for education reforms designed to improve student achievement.

The teachers union has made its opposition to Jones clear. In a post on its website, it claims that Jones has “declared war on teachers.” Raucous union members disrupted a School Board meeting last month, interrupting it several times in an attempt to derail the budget plans. They left the meeting chanting, “We’ll remember in November.”

Unfortunately, this reaction isn’t helping. It is only turning a difficult situation into a mess, and in the process, it’s missing the point. The race for School Board shouldn’t be focused on a labor dispute; it should be centered on students and student achievement.

The teachers union has been quick to try to characterize opposing views as anti-teacher, so let’s be clear: Our views aren’t grounded in any opposition to teachers or their desire to earn a good wage. In fact, we have argued that teachers should be paid a professional wage and be rewarded for good performance because the work they do is vitally important.

The teachers union has argued that the School Board should pursue new revenue. We agree that the district needs more money. The state doesn’t adequately fund its schools, and that is something on which the Legislature needs to finally take action.

Certainly, more money would help, but it isn’t the answer alone. With or without more money, the district still needs to improve student achievement, which has been lackluster for years. The district can’t wait and hope that things will get better with the economy or another session of the Legislature. There are things the district can do to improve education now, and thankfully, Jones isn’t waiting. He has laid out an ambitious plan and has been diligently moving forward.

His ideas and actions have rankled some people. Change always draws objections. And let’s face it, the status quo hasn’t worked. After seeing past efforts to improve student achievement be met with resistance, Clark County residents should be cheered to see a superintendent making strides toward improving education, and voters should look for School Board candidates who support his efforts.