Teachers union could use a lesson in finances

I had two general reactions as I read Brad Truax's Aug. 31 letter to the editor, "For a brighter future."

One of those feelings was disappointment that the teachers union has so little integrity and character that it must rely on Mr. Truax to write to our local newspaper with these shrill pontifications. The other feeling I experienced was astonishment. I detest the inability of Mr. Truax to bring anything other than emotional, sob-story anecdotes as evidence to persuade people to join the cause of the Nevada State Education Association in its ballot-initiative attempt to raise taxes, which in turn is meant to stabilize K-12 public school funding.

I am a public school teacher, and have been a loyal, dues-paying member of the union since beginning teaching in Clark County seven years ago. The anemic attempt by Mr. Truax to defend the aforementioned tax initiative carries, in my view, so many fallacies and rhetorical weaknesses that it may very well be one of the reasons the initiative loses before the Legislature and the voting public, should sufficient signatures be collected and should the courts find it acceptable for a vote.

Mr. Truax is obviously correct that the students we are expected to teach have evolved demographically in ways that make teaching more difficult today than it was 75 years ago. That truth, however, spot-on accurate it may be, quite ignores the taxing issue brought forth by the NSEA.

To start with, the union was forced during court proceedings to admit that the language contained in the proposed initiative would impose a 2 percent margins tax on even those businesses that operated at a loss (meaning the business lost money) or those that operated net-neutral (meaning they did not make a profit of any kind, but did not operate at a loss, either).

What strikes me as the most morbidly ironic element of this discussion is that the "corporations" that union signature gatherers are using as scapegoats as they walk door to door to collect signatures (Wal-Mart, etc.) are the very businesses fully equipped to find the loopholes and deductions, thus paying as little as possible. Whereas the smaller, family-owned businesses would face tremendous pressure as they struggle to keep their doors open and their employees paid.

I wonder sometimes whether any of my esteemed colleagues even paid attention to economics when they were in college. If they had, they would know that small businesses are and always have been the foundation, the backbone of economic recovery.

Mr. Truax pushes for an initiative that, despite being labeled as an "education initiative," does nothing to direct the moneys it collects to Nevada's K-12 education system. I oppose the initiative not because I think the funding system in Nevada is perfectly equitable or appropriate - I don't think it is either, and that some sort of funding reform needs to occur, and quickly - and not because I hate the union. I oppose the initiative because the union either doesn't care to consider how their proposed initiative might impact the businesses of Nevada (we would call this "incompetence" where I come from) or they really don't care (we call that "corruption," where I come from).

If this initiative passes, and if we presume an additional $800 million annually is to be collected because of it, we as public teachers would still be forced, hat in hand, to come to the Legislature with a pale, "More, please, sir" attitude.

This actually weakens the position of teachers, and the union should know better. Seriously, how has this worked out for us in the past? Does anyone remember the room tax that was placed before the Legislature? How has that worked out for us?

Instead of whining about things we cannot change, why don't we work on what we can with vigor, passion and integrity? Yes, we as educators are oftentimes neglected, abused and ridiculed; yes, we do need to stand and be heard as we face challenges such as middle school or high school classes whose seats and desks are predominantly filled by students who speak no English at all or very limited English.

The least we could do, Mr. Truax, is to be completely straightforward about this push for additional funding. The truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth would be nice for a change.

Let us earn back the trust of the public in Nevada. Let us behave in a manner consistent with the values that made our country great. No more tomfoolery and name-calling. Honest answers to questions.

Indeed, as a union member and a voting member of the Clark County Education Association Representative Council and the NSEA Delegate Assembly, I would think that the union needs to be held to the exact same level of scrutiny in terms of its finances that the school district is held to.