Where I Stand: Spend education money where it does the most good

Friday, Sept. 12, 1997 | 10:12 a.m.

bj L ETTERS TO EDITORS, editorial comments and some street talk made it sound like the teachers of Clark County were asking for outrageous salary increases. The Classroom Teachers Association gave many people a shock when it proposed an 8 percent increase both this year and next year. Suggesting a 16 percent increase even caught me by surprise, but it wasn't shocking. It's wise for any well-organized group to start on the high side when opening salary negotiations.

The proposed raise will boost starting qualified teachers from $24,868 to $26,857 in 1998 and up to $29,006 in 1999. Can any reasonable parent tell me that this is too much money for the qualified man or woman who spends more working hours with their grade-school child than they do? I doubt it.

Sure, it's a lot of money when given to so many teachers, but they shouldn't be paid less than other valued professionals, because our rapidly growing community needs so many of them. The requested salary and insurance increases come to $46 million, according to a district official. That's a lot of money, but certainly not out of reach in one of our nation's most prosperous areas.

Looking over several initial requests of the CCTA, I can see where the union representatives may be reaching a bit too far. If I was at the bargaining table, and I've been there, some of the request would wind up in the wastepaper basket. Cutting into the salary requests would be much more difficult because, in the long run, most of them are reasonable. If the CCSD can't fund the salary requests, they should come as close as possible to meeting them. They should at least meet the request for dollars to up the salary for beginning teachers.

By the way, have you heard any loud complaints about the university and community college administrators receiving 5.5 to 8.1 percent salary increases? An 8.1 percent increase for a college administrator already being paid $135,106 will boost him up to $146,117 yearly. That's sure a big difference compared with the $2,000 raise the beginning teachers will receive.

So where are our values when considering the education of our children? We must remember that the fundamentals taught in elementary and high schools can determine success or failure for the youngster in college and in the world of work. Those who fail will not be among those students whose papers are being shuffled by that expensive college administrator.

Don't forget the big car show in Henderson from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m. this Sunday. VFW Post 3848 is putting on "Cars In the Park" on Timet Field at Lake Mead and Water Street. The profits will go to Operation Godspeed for the chapel planned at the Southern Nevada Veterans Cemetery. ... Is it true that UNLV is going ahead and naming the new library after a big-money donor? It's a real shame that the name of James Dickinson Library won't survive the infusion of the big bucks. Jim's success in establishing the university here in Las Vegas laid the foundation for many of the name-changers to succeed or even have a job. He was a great teacher and gave his all to the students and faculty during the early days of the school. A year ago, university officials promised my colleague Ruthe Deskin that another building would soon bear Jim's name. They should have kept it on the library where it belongs, but money talks. So what about that other important building to be named after him? ...

It was interesting to note that my good friend Neena Laxalt has been named government affairs director for Rose-Glenn Advertising and Public Relations. She did a good job during the 1997 Nevada Legislature for Mirage Resorts, and she will be productive in anything she does. ... Al Geller had a number of his WWII buddies in town last month. Geller's 44th Division held their reunion here, and they recalled how the bombing of Hiroshima and Nagasaki kept them from being involved in an invasion of Japan. They had already made a name as a great fighting outfit in Europe, where, at one time, they were engaged in combat for 144 continuous days. During one 10-day period, the 44th took on three German divisions, including the 17 SS Panzer Grenadier Division. ...

Nevada Sens. Harry Reid and Richard Bryan have often warned about the dangers of giving the president line-item veto power. The people who support line-item veto power should read the following Associated Press story from Sacramento: "A state senator said Thursday that Gov. Pete Wilson may have violated bribery or extortion laws by vetoing pet projects of Democratic legislators from the state budget and promising to restore them if the Legislature enacts a school testing program that the Democrats oppose." That's the way governors with this power sometimes act, and there's no reason to believe a president won't do the same. ...