LETTER: Attack on charter schools misses mark
Mick Kilburn’s Nov. 6 letter of lists his three issues with charter school teachers. He says they are paid less than those working in public schools, they cannot discuss their salaries and they are not allowed to unionize.
His concise and comprehensive explanation probably did more to sway those on the fence to the charter school side than any number of TV commercials or Review-Journal editorials.
Lower-paid teachers will get raises if their students progress … that doesn’t happen in a union environment. No one should talk about salaries to co-workers. Mr. Kilburn criticizes an environment that promotes hard work and focuses on the right things.
He closes his argument stating, “Teacher job satisfaction should be the main concern for parents.” This should be a late entry for most misguided statement of the year. I think there are a few other parent concerns that might top teacher job satisfaction, and just about every one of them has to do with the fact that the Clark County Education Association and school leaders protect the status quo.
Everyone knows, except perhaps Mr. Kilburn, that the status quo puts Las Vegas children in the bottom five percentile in the nation. Charter schools are about the only thing that seems to be working for parents and their children, and we are all thankful for the teachers who serve there.
