education:

Constituents push lobbyists aside for a day

CATHLEEN ALLISON / NEVADA APPEAL

Tami Berg, director of the Washoe County region’s Parent Teacher Association, speaks with state Assemblyman Mo Denis, D-Las Vegas, on Thursday at the Legislative Building in Carson City. PTA groups made the trek to press legislators on education funding.

By David McGrath Schwartz (contact)

Friday, Feb. 27, 2009 | 2 a.m.

2009 Legislature

The halls of the Legislature had a surprising look Thursday. A few dozen people roamed the corridors without ID badges — they were ordinary residents up from Las Vegas who had come to talk to lawmakers about education.

It’s a fact of Nevada state government that almost everyone except legislators is required to wear an ID: lobbyists (blue), staff members (white), media representatives (yellow).

The color-coded participants are paid to be here on behalf of large institutions or interest groups. You spot the badge, you know the purpose.

But a day like Thursday, when the halls included people with nothing hanging around their necks or clasped to their pockets, is a refreshing reminder of the reason the badge wearers show up.

On such a day, a blank lapel becomes its own kind of ID.

So is a double stroller.

Legislators and lobbyists had to veer around Tonya Pack’s six-wheeled contraption Thursday morning. Pack had journeyed to the Legislature with her children — 8-year-old Amelia, 3-year-old Eric and 10-month-old Isaac — on an overnight bus ride from Las Vegas organized by the Nevada Parent Teacher Association. Her husband stayed home to work.

“We want to let them know that funding is needed for education,” she said. “If we’re not going to fund education, we might as well put the money in prisons, because that’s where the children will end up.”

About 30 members of the PTA endured with Pack the 450-mile bus ride — it left Las Vegas at 10 p.m. and arrived in the capital at 6:30 a.m. — to voice their concerns. They were joined by 30 PTA members from Northern Nevada.

They wore black arm bands to protest proposed cuts that would put Nevada “dead last” in education spending, organizers said.

Their plea was familiar — focus on funding for education. But the messengers were a rarity for Carson City.

The reasons why are various.

One is distance. It’s an onerous trip from Las Vegas. Legislators say they try to alleviate that by video conferencing hearings to Southern Nevada. But that doesn’t address how most of the advocacy actually takes place — in hallways and legislators’ offices.

Some are intimidated by the process.

“The word ‘advocacy’ scares people,” said Assemblywoman April Mastroluca, D-Henderson. “People think it’s bigger than it is, scarier than it is. It’s talking about things you feel strongly about.”

And then there’s the excuse that a constituent’s voice doesn’t matter.

Legislators said because it is so rare to have constituents cornering legislators and testifying at hearings, when they do it carries more weight.

Assemblyman Mo Denis, D-Las Vegas and president of the state PTA, said lawmakers get plenty of e-mail, but “when a person makes the effort to come here, you listen.”

“We’re all in this building listening to each other,” Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley said of lawmakers and lobbyists. “When an average citizen testifies, we listen more than with the lobbyists.”

By 2:30 p.m., as the PTA served cookies and soda at a reception in the Legislative Building, Pack was exhausted. But she was glad she had made the trip.

“I really think Amelia knows why we’re here today,” she said of her daughter.

Discussion: 5 comments so far…

By Patrick_R_Gibbons

2/27/09 at 8:12 a.m.

Suggest removal

Here are some facts on Nevada's K-12 Education http://www.npri.org/docLib/20090218_Fast...

We spend more than $10,000 per student.

Of that almost $2,000 goes to capital outlays - and we don't spend that much just because we are the fastest growing...Arizona, the second fastest growing state, spends considerably less. This means we devote close to 20% of our education dollars toward capital costes, most states spend around 10%.
By KillerB

2/27/09 at 12:24 p.m.

Suggest removal

Isn't it counterproductive to lobby for education while making "8-year-old Amelia" miss school for the day?

Power to the People!
By kevjandon

2/27/09 at 2:51 p.m.

Suggest removal

Yeah we spend 10,700 per pupil.

The national average is just over 10,000 per per pupil.

So we fund more than the national average per pupil and still come in almost dead last.

Education in Nevada is not a money problem. It is an Education or lack there of problem.
By azsk8fan

2/27/09 at 3:33 p.m.

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Actually it's a PARENT problem - ever see how some of these kids dress for school - little hoochie-mama's and gansta thugs - what kind of parent lets their kid go to school dressed in such get-ups - better yet - where did the clothes even come from - most kids I've seen dressed like that are too young to be working so apparently it's the parents themselves buying these get-ups - and then they want to blame the teacher when their isn't learning.....
By geezelouise

2/28/09 at 7:57 a.m.

Suggest removal

Educating children needs to be a working relationship between the schools and the parents. Unfortunately, most school administrators and their staff make it very difficult for parents to participate in the process. For some reason just like our elected officials, they seem to have an attitude that they are in power and the parent is not.

Nothing should be further from the truth. They are public servants paid by our tax dollars.