School cuts: Blame binding arbitration if layoffs occur

A monumental action that affects every Southern Nevada resident could come any day now, and neither the electorate nor any elected official will have a say in the matter.

A lone arbitrator will decide whether hundreds of Clark County School District teachers are laid off at midyear.

It's an affront to democracy, a clarion call for collective bargaining reform and a potential disaster for our schools.

The school district and its teachers union have made no progress in contract talks for months, and the arbitrator is charged with settling the impasse by choosing one side's offer or the other's. No compromise will be struck.

The school district must make up a $78 million revenue shortfall for 2011-13. It seeks to accomplish this by essentially freezing teacher pay. Customary pay raises awarded based on years of experience and graduate school credits would be suspended, and the teachers' inefficient, self-governed health trust would be replaced with a private-sector provider. The Clark County Education Association, meanwhile, wants teachers to keep both their "step" raises and their health trust.

Because the district lacks the revenue to meet those demands, it will have to release up to 1,000 licensed personnel if the arbitrator sides with the union. A decision in favor of the district, meanwhile, would allow all teachers to keep their jobs, but force them to pay back any raises received this year.

One person who's completely unaccountable to the taxpaying voters is the final arbiter Aside from taking away the most difficult and important decisions from our elected stewards, state-mandated arbitration also gives public employee unions little incentive to meet management halfway. They can walk away from the bargaining table -- as the teachers union did, here -- dig in their heels and have a reasonable chance at getting what they want, anyway.

In this case, the union's solution would come at a steep price. If falling enrollments or a thinning of management allows a gradual shift of employees to the private sector, that's fine. But the wholesale dumping of up to 1,000 more residents into the unemployment line could badly hurt a recovering economy.

Meantime, it's the impact on schools that should most concern parents and taxpayers. If mass layoffs ensue, entire classes will be dissolved, with transferred students packing already-crowded classrooms. And layoffs won't be based solely on performance, as seniority remains a factor in cutbacks. That ensures some very effective, very affordable teachers will be let go. The jolt to both students and teachers trying to make progress will be sizable.

Other school district bargaining groups have seen the wisdom of concessions. Superintendent Dwight Jones deserves credit for crafting a proposal that would avoid layoffs. If the teachers union is instead willing to throw up to 1,000 of its members on the dole so the rest can receive pay raises in a recession, then teachers should be leading the charge to reach a deal before the arbitrator rules.

Come 2013, the Legislature must find a way to eliminate binding arbitration. Elected boards should make these decisions, so voters can have a say.