Teachers union and Adelson are a lot alike

Fri, Apr 25, 2008 (2:01 a.m.)

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The state teachers union and Gondolier Numero Uno Sheldon Adelson have a lot in common.

That may seem counterintuitive, considering one is a wholly owned subsidiary of the Democratic Party and the other is the de facto head of the GOP in Nevada. But while I don’t expect the Nevada State Education Association will be moving its headquarters to the Venetian anytime soon, both the teachers union and Adelson have no faith in the Legislature to accomplish their agendas, and both are willing to seek imperfect, self-serving solutions through initiatives.

And both, it must be said, are willing to sacrifice sound public policy to serve up red meat to a populace that down the road will be begging for a legislative emetic because of the toxicity of what it has swallowed.

This is where we have arrived in the great state of Nevada, folks. An inert, inflexible governor and his timorous legislative opponents have caused a paralysis that has left the state’s future in the hands of the Supreme Court, which will soon decide whether Adelson and the teachers can set tax policy.

Calling it policy is a stretch, actually. Raising the gross gaming tax an arbitrary amount 3 percentage points, as the teachers want to do or diverting room taxes from the convention authority budget by a random amount whatever is above its fiscal 2007 budget plus inflation, as Adelson wants to do is less policy and more pap. But like “no new taxes” or “more money for education,” it sure sounds enticing.

I am not suggesting raising the gaming tax or taking a portion of room taxes shouldn’t be part of the solution. Both should be but as part of a more thoughtful, hashed out package that is broadly based and enacted legislatively, not through initiatives.

Alas, the fault here lies not just with lawmakers, who have been unable or unwilling to broaden the tax base. Don’t forget the gamers, who have been shortsighted and overreaching for decades, and the business community, which has adopted Nancy Reagan’s drug mantra and turned it into a chant of irresponsibility.

The teachers know the right answer, but they have surrendered to public opinion and turned on their old allies in the casino corps. This debate is not new, and only eight years ago, when the union was pushing a net profits tax on businesses, a study the teachers union commissioned told the same old story.

The report, prepared by the Corporation for Enterprise Development, talked about all the taxes in California and suggested a business tax here would not be anti-competitive. “Economically, Nevada is a one-trick pony,” the study found. “Most states have developed industrial policies that try to diversify their business bases and reduce the effect of a decline in one industry or a general recession ... Nevada continues to be the least economically diverse state in the country.”

There’s little doubt that study was tendentious, and the teachers got what they paid for. But that doesn’t mean it isn’t accurate, and nothing has changed much since 2000 except the political atmospherics. And the teachers are capitalizing on percolating disdain for the gaming industry, which has been hemorrhaging good will among the hoi polloi for years.

As for Adelson, his loathing for the convention authority, cultivated during his disputes when he owned Comdex and now through the authority’s competition with his convention center, eclipses his antipathy for the man doing an Encore next to his Palazzo.

But Adelson’s self-interest aside, his frontman, ex-Treasurer Bob Seale, may well tap into something when he declares, as he did this week on “Face to Face,” that the plan “is a mechanism for getting without additional taxes more money into these issues that are critical. I think it’s a no-brainer.”

It probably will be, if the justices let it on the ballot, even if sound arguments are made about impairing bonds and crippling the convention authority in the long run. But hearing Seale talk about how he realized the soundness of the policy as he listened to Adelson lieutenant Bill Weidner give a PowerPoint presentation is as credible as convention authority board member Rory Reid’s insisting that the public shouldn’t listen to one casino owner’s agenda. As if what has come before politicians adopting the oligarchical agenda from Las Vegas Boulevard South has served the state so well.

Reid said on the program Thursday that I don’t give the public enough credit, as if voters are smart enough to let their intellectual analysis trump the initiatives’ visceral appeal. Really? Adelson and the teachers are betting he is wrong.

Discussion: 9 comments so far…

By Oliver07

4/25/08 at 7:55 a.m.

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After watching Face To Face last night and now reading this... all I can wonder is: What if both of these initiatives make the ballot and they both win? I guess the teachers will be in hog heaven and the rest of us will be left standing there wondering what happened.
By HelenWeils

4/25/08 at 8:48 a.m.

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Typical drivel, bla bla bla, raise taxes on everyone so the freeloaders have more, bla, bla, bla.
No Brainer says it all.
By 2zero

4/25/08 at 11:10 a.m.

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I am a parent of two CCSD students. Having been active in attempts to get CCSD administrators and teachers somewhat involved in the "product" and dealing with the process I have come to this conclusion.

Pay the teachers their base salary. Then provide incentives for overtime and commissions for performance. Tie the teachers income to the test scores x graduation x SAT/ACT x college acceptance!

I have heard many times in the last few months that teachers could not meet me to discuss student performance because their contract only requires they work from 7 to 2, Monday through Friday except holidays, spring break, Christmas break and of course all summer.

As for the administrators they make way to much and their salary should be deducted for crime on or near schools, teacher to student ratios, attendance, and number of substitutes and/or unqualified teachers hired.
By Oliver07

4/25/08 at 2:55 p.m.

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When I was teaching many years ago and the NEA was relatively young(National Education Association - the state level here being the NSEA), it was not considered a "union". I guess unions have their place, but I am beginning to think that the "union" is one of the biggest parts of the problem. Throwing money at teachers does not make them better teachers or make them want to stay. Teachers should definitely make a living wage......but a sense of community and being in a place where they WANT to live is just as important.

I suppose unions have to be able to justify their existence, but making and enforcing arbitrary hours shouldn't be part of that. And, saying that raising teacher salaries will fix everything, doesn't cut it. Teachers who see teaching as a profession rather than just a job (which is the level the union is bringing it down to), will be willing to meet with parents whenever they can. Its just such a sad day when a union is regulating what teachers do.
By StanG

4/27/08 at 12:49 a.m.

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But if we really expect teachers to behave as professionals, we should pay them at least as well as we do our automobile mechanics and our plumbers. Look, not only aren't teachers paid as professionals, they get no respect from damn near anyyone. The worst offenders are Republican politicians and the RJ editorial staff.
I think I understand their motive for denigrating the profession. They prefer that money for education be given to schools that allow prayer and the "teaching" of Creation pseudo science now known as Intelligent Design. They figure that if they can convince us that public schools are broken, we'll be willing to approve transferring funds to private schools, and once that gets going, the public school system is doomed, so all the money will go to support religious education. The bright side is that the cost of textbooks will plummet. Kids will only need one ... the Bible. History, geography, sociology and morality, as well as law is all in there.
By teacher

4/27/08 at 8:47 a.m.

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What the general public and the R-J staff don't seem to know, or care about, is how enormously hard teachers work for a pittance. I worked about 80 hours per week my first year. I had to create all my materials, since I had no text books. It gradually dwindled to where I now feel I'm living in luxury working about 50 hours per week, in my seventh year. I am paid 40K, not really enough to live much of a life with a child. It is survival pay- no vacations, very old car, thrift store clothing. (I was divorced. I did not file for it.) I may lose my modest home when I lose my child support. I will leave Las Vegas if that happens. But go ahead, keep insulting teachers and accusing them of being lazy, uncaring, and not working a full work week. This ignorance is beyond belief, and will not exactly attract good teachers to this miserable district.

Over the course of seven years, I have been utterly astounded at what both administrators and parents expect teachers to do for a non-living wage.
By teacher

4/27/08 at 8:48 a.m.

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The 2zero parent comment is unbelievable. I have to meet with parents beyond my contract hours all the time. Many of those parents do not lift a finger to help their children in school, or to know what is going on, yet expect me to stay after school and do free private tutoring because their child cannot be bothered to listen or do homework and is now getting bad grades. Even those children who do listen and try, but are below average - and there are so many - cannot expect free tutoring from a person who is already overworked and underpaid. This parent also doesn't seem to understand that she is one of many who want the teacher to individually help their children. Please call a tutor. Teachers cannot individually work with 150 or 200 students. The school district and administrators need to stop implying to parents that they can, and that they are saints who will work endlessly for substandard wages.

As for the "merit pay" nonsense, it is utterly absurd to judge teachers on the test scores of students. We cannot listen to instruction or do work for students - though the general public seems to think we should be able to do this, too. The truth is that the level of laziness among students is enormous. They know they'll be passed anyway.
By teacher

4/27/08 at 8:54 a.m.

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And Jon Ralston, please stop interchanging the terms "teachers union" and "the teachers". As far as I can tell, the teachers union here is a handful of people working in cahoots with the schools. Those running it appear to be working in their own best interests, for their own personal gain, not in the interest of teachers here. Why do local journalists not pursue this? (And people think teachers aren't doing their jobs?)

The so-called "union" is nothing like a union where I come from. It is corrupt, self-serving and ineffectual. I would never support this tax increase, as I feel sure it will not be used to increase the pay for teachers, but will be squandered for pet projects and pals of those in power positions.

And, incidentally, to that parent again, and to anyone in this state who thinks teachers don't deserve a living wage: You get what you pay for. The worse teachers are paid, the more flunkies you'll get in teaching. It's just like anything else.

By the way, parent, I will be teaching summer school because I cannot afford to live on my salary. Teachers do not have all this "time off" that people accuse them of. I'd like to have a weekend off where I don't have to spend ten hours on grading and lesson plans. It's this type of attitude that will earn Las Vegas parents declining schools, and worse teachers. Too bad not all of them deserve it.

Are there poor teachers out there? In seven years, I have encountered four that I can think of who should be kicked out. This is another myth, that teachers want to protect the incompetent. Do you want incompetent co-workers whose slack you have to pick up? Well, neither do teachers. However, four out of the many I know is a very small number. Most work enormously hard, well over forty hours per week, and are very dedicated and caring.

Have some respect. You obviously have a very unrealistic view of teaching and teachers.
By teacher

4/27/08 at 9 a.m.

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p.s. StanG, you are on it. I also believe that statistically "proving" the schools to be failing (as the No Child Left Behind Act is, by expecting the same performance from special ed kids as regular kids) is intentional. It has been set up this way to privatize the schools. Personally, I don't mind if people want to send their kids to religion-oriented schools, but I do not want to see K-12 education become the huge business that college is, where your education is dependent on money far more than on intellect and work habits.

I believe the system is so broken that we do need variety and choice, but not at the expense of lower-income students. There are a variety of solutions that could be tried, but what's happening here now ensures a continuing decline.