Teachers organizing rally for school funds

Terry Webster

Friday, Feb. 2, 2001 | 11:32 a.m.

Show of strength

Clark County School District teachers

Demonstration to support more education funding

Feb. 19, 10 a.m.

In front of the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, 3720 Howard Hughes Parkway

Schoolteachers within the Clark County School District are organizing a rally to show their support for a state budget that provides more funding for education.

The site of the rally, the Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce, was chosen because the chamber opposes a business profits tax of 4 percent that would go toward education. If approved, the tax would raise about $250 million a year, projections show.

A new source of funding for education is critical, says the teachers union.

"Obviously, we need some kind of mechanism to create more funding for schools," said John Jasonek, executive director of the Clark County Education Association. "The budget situation is dismal, and we're below national averages on per pupil spending and teacher pay."

Jasonek said the rally is expected to start before the chamber building and continue as a march for several blocks.

Sue Strand, president of the Clark County Education Association, said, "The word is out about the school district's financial situation. The chamber is always saying they support public education and this is their chance to step up to the plate.

"We need more funding for education and we need the support of the business community. That's what the issue will be."

Jasonek could not estimate how many of the district's 13,451 teachers are expected to turn out.

"We hope that all of the teachers and supporters of public education will be there," he said.

Union officials currently are making fliers and signs for the event, he said.

A critic of the business profits tax, Kami Dempsey, executive director of the Nevada Pro-Education Alliance and a Las Vegas Chamber of Commerce employee, could not be reached for comment.

Dempsey has previously said she opposes the business tax plan because it is simply a way to get across-the-board salary increases for teachers. Dempsey has said performance-based pay is better because it provides accountability for teacher performance.

Gov. Kenny Guinn's proposed budget, which provides for a one-time bonus of less than 5 percent for teachers, was met with disappointment by state and local teacher union officials.

Teachers say it fails to address a long-term plan for funding their salaries.

"It's like giving someone a Thanksgiving turkey," Strand said. "Once it's gone, it's gone."