LETTER: Not easy to pick a side in school district-union dispute

It’s very hard to pick a side in the ongoing battle between the inept Clark County School District and the out-of-touch teachers union. The only report card that matters is that student results are among the worse in the country … year after year after year.

Meanwhile commercials, protests and guest columns continually pit one against the other while always ending that everything they do is, “for the children.” Taxpayers and citizens who had the benefit of an education outside this warehouse of ineptitude understand that dedication to the children ends when it means teacher report cards or administrative transparency.

The latest salvo is the July 22 letter from (CCSD communication officer) Tod Story’s congratulating the district’s human resources officials for their recruitment efforts to replace retirees and others. Mr. Story also cites survey data for those resigning or leaving … let’s see it. Truly, if that data is favorable to the district, they would share the results so we could learn the specific reasons cited and, in turn, target those opportunities for improvement to increase the chances that those who remain will stay.

Further, I think the HR job became a bit easier when, post-pandemic, the district was hiring all warm bodies, teaching certificate or not. The problem with 1,721 employees leaving the district is that we have no idea if the right ones are leaving. More money, more attention and more whining has not done a thing to move the competency needle. If the majority of those leaving are newcomers, that is a high number. If those who are not leaving are the long-term contributors to our local embarrassment, let’s double the departure number and ensure these enablers are out the door ASAP.

Mr. Story has a very difficult job that would be made easier if, instead of trumpeting that “our educators go above and beyond each day,” he would devote the same passion to asking teachers to simply ensure students can read, write and maybe do math at their current grade level.