Nevada schools need what works, not ideology

Robert Gregorich, Henderson

Sunday, April 3, 2011 | 2:02 a.m.

Many people are critical of education and teachers unions. But I don’t think unions are responsible for a funding level near the bottom in the country. Many refer to research that says money is not a big factor. Check out the states that fund education at the lowest levels and compare their overall effectiveness with those that have higher funding.

Unions are not responsible for the greatest number of factors that go into evaluating an education system. Unions are not responsible for salaries that are below the national average. Some valets make more than the highest-paid classroom teachers.

Unions are not responsible for 40-plus students in some classes that are needed for graduation. Class-size effectiveness is being debated, but 40 students in a class is not a size for quality teaching.

I taught for more than 35 years, in both private and public schools. I had as few as 12 students in a private school and so many in a public school that I could hardly walk down the aisles. You judge where a person could be more effective.

We have to get away from ideology and get to the things that work.

What is needed is a comprehensive program in reading and math, throughout all grade levels, that takes those students who are behind and focuses on those areas. By the way, 50 years ago when I started college, there was a class called “Bonehead English” that certain students had to take because high school scores were not high enough. It is not a modern thing.

You get what you pay for and there are too many people in this state who find too many excuses not to fund a better education system.