LETTERS: CCSD should outsource, consolidate
To the editor:
Many public officials, living very comfortably off taxpayer-funded salaries, are calling for tax increases without fully exploring all options for budget reductions. Many retirees living on fixed incomes are concerned that our taxes will be increased again to support the ever-increasing public school budget.
From my limited review of Clark County School District budget expenditures, there are considerable funds allocated to the support staff, including positions as carpenters, carpet cleaning technicians, custodians, duplication equipment technicians, electricians, masons, mobile crane operators, pest control technicians, photographers, pipefitters, plumbers, roofers, tire inspectors/repairers, welders, water treatment technicians, vehicle maintenance and more. Why can’t some or all of these positions be outsourced to small business contractors, who could provide the same service for less money?
The CCSD support staff job classifications number in the hundreds. Why can’t the position responsibilities be broadened to cover more activities, to improve support staff efficiency? It seems that there are plenty of redundant positions, such as: telecommunication specialist, telecommunication services planner and telecommunication services manager; microcomputer support specialist, microcomputer systems specialist and MIS/DP technical specialist; TV member services manager, TV news and production manager, TV operations manager, and TV engineer and voice communication network technician. Why can’t those positions — and more like them — be combined.
I seriously doubt that private schools in Las Vegas have that many support staff positions. It appears CCSD is more interested in building an empire than providing an education in an economical fashion.
MICHAEL ANTHONY
LAS VEGAS
Charter school proposal
To the editor:
In response to the charter school editorial (“No good reason to oppose school,” Feb. 27 Review-Journal), I’d like to quote a portion of the piece: “But the Henderson Planning Commission and City Council must have the courage to tell homeowners this project is worthwhile and that it won’t hurt their property values or quality of life.” Sure, you can tell us anything. That doesn’t make it true.
No one is questioning the value of charter schools. But claiming a negligible impact to congestion on the corner of Horizon Ridge and Green Valley parkways, with 1,600 students and 85 faculty arriving and departing daily by car, ranks with telling Las Vegans the monorail was a viable financial proposition.
And it’s not just for regular school hours either. Daycare begins at 7 a.m. and final pick-up is 6 p.m. That’s for 180 days a year, to say nothing of possible summer enrichment programs. It’s yet another fairy tale to say property values won’t be affected. Would anyone pay fair market value for a home in a senior development within earshot of playground sounds? Are the people in those homes simply of no consequence for your argument?
I’m asking myself why the Review-Journal editors are so strongly in favor of a project that is clearly not in their backyard. Could there perhaps be unmentioned profit or political motives? Or is it simply contempt for senior-citizen taxpayers — more than 2,500 of them — who know what is in their own best interests?
ESTHER WEINSTEIN
HENDERSON
Bring on lottery
To the editor:
All Gov. Brian Sandoval, Mayor Carolyn Goodman and the other politicians think about is raising the sales tax and property taxes to get more money for schools, road repairs and more. The people of Nevada don’t want their taxes raised and have said as much.
The people are willing to buy lottery tickets to raise money, but the politicians only listen to the Nevada Gaming Commission. The commission doesn’t want a lottery, so the people of Nevada can’t have one.
This just shows me that the commission runs the state, not the elected officials, who need to start listening to the people of Nevada. We want a lottery, not higher taxes or a soccer stadium.
JAMES DE ROLF
LAS VEGAS
