The primary’s most important race

Dwight Jones is not an elected official, but the Clark County School District superintendent might as well be. The local teachers union has made an otherwise low-profile School Board primary all about him - and in the process turned the campaign into the most important race on June's ballot.

The Clark County Education Association's simmering hostility toward the reform-minded Jones reached a boiling point May 16, when more than 100 union members and supporters packed a School Board meeting and disrupted a budget vote, shouting down trustees. It was textbook union intimidation.

But the threats weren't limited to the meeting. That same day, the union launched a local radio campaign attacking the only incumbent trustee who faces a primary challenge: Deanna Wright, whose District A covers most of Henderson.

The union despises Jones. Jones answers to the School Board. The School Board supports Jones. So the union is going after trustees, starting with Wright.

It's a highly unusual and aggressive move for the union, which generally focuses its political efforts on supporting the candidates it endorses. This year, because of its bitter contract dispute with the school district, the CCEA has held off on endorsing School Board candidates or making direct contributions to them. Instead, its goal is simply to knock out Wright next month - and send a powerful message to the rest of the board.

"The campaign is not just geared toward Deanna Wright," CCEA President Ruben Murillo told me last week. "It's a campaign to educate the public about issues important to teachers and the education of our children. And it's directed at all the trustees."

The end game: Replace trustees who support Jones and his administration with ones who don't, then create enough animosity toward Jones and his agenda to chase him into a job in another state. That would clear the way for a superintendent who'll play nice with the CCEA, which is what the union has generally had for years.

"That's a real possibility," said Wright, who was endorsed by the CCEA in 2008. "If they get three cogs in there, they can make it very hostile. ... They could slow down reforms by pulling agenda items, putting up road blocks to certain proposals. I don't doubt it."

The union considers Jones anti-labor for two main reasons.

First, he asked teachers to accept a pay freeze and warned them that educators would be laid off next year if the district were forced to provide the salary increases demanded by the union. An arbitrator settled the contract impasse this month by siding with the union, necessitating the May 16 School Board vote to adopt cuts that eliminate more than 1,000 positions. The union says reserve funds and better spending priorities could prevent layoffs.

Second, Jones ordered the union to account for $2.4 million the district gave to the Clark County Education Association Community Foundation to run continuing education courses for teachers between 2006 and 2011. Jones says he'll demand repayment if he doesn't receive reliable financial documentation from the program.

"We want a working relationship with the superintendent, one that's collaborative with teachers ... and works toward the common good of educating children in the Clark County School District," Murillo said. "He (Jones) needs to work on his approach with unions. He's not supportive of unions."

It's worth noting that Jones tried to save as many union jobs as possible and struck deals to freeze the pay of police, administrators and support staff to prevent even more layoffs.

I asked Murillo if the CCEA wants a new superintendent.

"I think, at the end of the day, it's going to be the community that makes that decision," he said.

One of Wright's primary challengers, Kevinn Donovan, says he disagrees with Jones on some issues but very much wants to work with him to improve student achievement and graduation rates. He said he's all for "shaking things up to make things better" but wants Jones to "get on the same page with the teachers union."

"Let's get behind this guy and help him out," Donovan said.

Wright's other challenger is Mary Ella Holloway, who was president of the CCEA from 2001 to 2008. Holloway said she hasn't heard the union's radio ad attacking Wright. I asked her repeatedly if she supports Jones, wants him to change course or wants him gone, and she responded by saying she's running for the School Board because she has become "very disillusioned in the past year. ... I've talked to a lot of people, not just teachers, who aren't happy with what's happening in our schools."

Wright says she unequivocally supports Jones, and for that, the union wants to knock her out. "The union's mad because they felt like they had de facto control of the board. Not anymore. Things have changed."

In a primary that's expected to have very low turnout, a radio campaign might be enough to compel uninformed voters to check someone other than Wright. The three candidates combined reported raising and spending less than $5,000 before Saturday's start of early voting. The top two finishers advance to a November runoff.

If Wright isn't one of those two, it will be a troubling result. Jones is exactly what the county needs: an outsider who's honest with the public about our schools' shortcomings. If voters won't support School Board candidates who'll work with him - if they follow the union's lead - we might lose our best chance to improve our schools.

"If we chase Dwight Jones out of town," Donovan asked, "who the hell's going to want to come here in that kind of environment?"

Glenn Cook (gcook@reviewjournal.com) is a Review-Journal editorial writer.