Editorial: Attention sought on money gap

Thursday, May 17, 2001 | 9:01 a.m.

Public school teachers understandably are upset that they're being asked to do more with less. In response to their concern that they may not receive salary increases, and the fact that they're faced with larger numbers of students in their classrooms, teachers at three middle schools in the Clark County School District this week started waging a protest. The teachers will only work the minimum amount of time required by their union contracts.

The teachers' anger means that they won't oversee after-school clubs or extracurricular activities at Greenspun, Miller and White middle schools unless they're being compensated for their time. "For the rest of this year and all of next year, there will be no more extracurricular activities," Ron Smith, a teacher at Greenspun Middle School, told Sun reporter Terry Webster. "We are strictly working our contract, from 7:20 a.m. to 2:31 p.m."

The teachers have a legitimate complaint about the disappointing lack of state support for education. For that matter, legislators have passed the buck for some years now in ensuring that not only are teachers paid competitive salaries, but that there also is enough money to provide a decent education. Still, these are conditions that teachers have faced for decades in this state, having to pull money out of their own pockets to pay for basic supplies that should be taken care of by state funds.

The teachers' options are limited when it comes to expressing their unhappiness. Although they belong to a union, as public employees they're prohibited from striking. But even a limited protest, such as refusing to oversee after-school activities unless they're paid, is a risky move by the teachers. The action could backfire with the public, especially with those people who most likely would be in their corner: the parents. The teachers' action will directly affect the students. And if the parents believe that their children are just pawns in a dispute between the teachers' union and policymakers in Carson City, they actually could end up being just as frustrated with the teachers as they are with state legislators.

It's debatable whether protests such as this are productive, but what is certain is that the Legislature and Gov. Kenny Guinn need to do the right thing, which is to provide enough money for education.