Teachers union says no to cuts in salary or benefits

Clark County Education Association President Ruben Murillo has made the teachers union's stance clear: no "cuts in salary or benefits."

That point was hammered home when teachers met Aug. 20 at Alexis Park Resort, 375 E. Harmon Ave., to "provide guidance" to CCEA leadership in the ongoing contract negotiations with the Clark County School District. About 1,400 teachers - union and nonunion members - showed up to the meeting, according to the CCEA.

Maureen McIntyre, a science teacher at Foothill High School, 800 College Drive in Henderson, was among them. She said the meeting was the "best thing I've seen our union do."

Microphones were set up around the room for teachers to voice their concerns. McIntyre said "people went crazy" upon hearing about the school district's proposed three furlough days for teachers.

The district is trying to save about $32 million this school year in teacher costs.

"The teachers have made lots of concessions, and we're saying no more," said McIntyre, who has 19 years with the district. " ... Teachers have spent years getting recertified, increasing their professional skills so that they could increase their pay."

Ramona Morgan, a teacher at Manch Elementary School, 4351 Lamont St., said teachers are "fighting an uphill battle."

"We get bashed everywhere we go," said Morgan, a 28-year teaching veteran. "I know we went into the profession, but I want to be an educator, not a baby sitter. Kids keep piling into the classroom because we're underfunded."

Morgan said she had 38 kids in her kindergarten class last school year. McIntyre said she had more than 30 students in some of her classes. A class size of 20 would be "Utopia," said McIntyre, but fewer than 30 would still be "good."

The district said it expects to have about 17,000 teaching positions at the beginning of this school year, compared with 18,000 last year. Average class sizes in most grades are expected to rise to 35 students, an increase of three students over last year.

The teachers union won its step increases in salary in arbitration in May, and in June more than 400 teachers were laid off as the district prepared for the same result for the 2012-13 school year. But the district said more teachers resigned or retired this summer than was expected, and all of the laid-off teachers were offered their jobs back, including 36 who were laid off for poor performance and not because they were new.

Murillo said these kinds of back-and-forth hirings make people skeptical of the district's finances. He said the district has the money to pay for more teachers and will continue to hire through the school year.

McIntyre also echoed a common charge from the 11,500-member union: Cuts should come from the top, not the bottom.

"CCSD is very top-heavy," she said. "You don't need the amount of administrators they have. A deputy to a deputy to a deputy, or an assistant to an assistant. They need to look at their own administration first before they come to the teachers."

District spokeswoman Amanda Fulkerson said they have, adding that administration was cut by $48 million last year.

An email from Fulkerson said, "The CCEA will say we have too many crayons in classrooms if they think it will get the community to think we've spent anywhere other than raises. The union telling CCSD where to invest is like the cable man telling you to spend less on groceries so you can have more channels. They work to preserve self-interest and will say anything to our employees and the public to do it. We are investing to increase academic achievement for our kids and our stats show it's working."

At the meeting, Murillo also introduced the Education Initiative, a proposed 2 percent margin tax on revenue for businesses earning more than $1 million. Murillo said it would provide about $800 million annually in funding for Nevada's kindergarten through 12th grade education system.

The measure would need more than 72,000 signatures to qualify to appear before the 2013 Nevada Legislature.

"If the legislature doesn't step up to the plate and do what they're supposed to do, then education in Nevada is doomed to be a failure," Murillo said. "There is really no other option."

Murillo said the Silver State ranks last or near last in the country in per-student funding.

State Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, said money will not fix Nevada's education system, which consistently has ranked among the worst in the country in terms of test scores and graduation rate.

"I'm bewildered at why they think the only way to improve education is giving more money," Cegavske said. " ... We've doubled the amount of money we've given (to education) in the last 10 years. The money has increased ... and how has it affected our scores and graduation rate?

"We are still where we are ... because we haven't made any substantial changes."

Cegavske, the mother of a Clark County School District teacher, said she would like to see the length of a school day extended and also would like to refine the process by which teachers are laid off.

"I believe good teachers should make a good salary," she said. "But there are teachers that shouldn't be teaching, and we have such a hard time getting rid of those teachers. We promote them or put them in another school."

Cegavske said the proposed tax also would be detrimental to Las Vegas businesses.

"We are a state that has the worst economy, and we're in a recession like we've never seen," she said. "To put another tax on businesses that are already struggling and going out of business because they can't handle what they have is just a slap in the community's face from the teachers union.

"I don't fault the teachers. I fault the union."

Contact View education reporter Jeff Mosier at jmosier@viewnews.com or 224-5524.