IT'S FOR THE UNION
Denial of school choice is in the union's best interest, not the students'
BY JOE ENGE

"It's for the children," the Nevada State Education Association (NSEA) says as they thrust in your face pictures of cute kids or their artwork. "It's for the children," the NSEA says as they demand ever-increasing funding for their monopoly of government schools and avoid accountability. "It's for the children," the NSEA says as it resists any and all real education reforms in Nevada.

If you question increased funding for government schools, why they have a monopoly and ask for reforms and accountability, well, you must be against the children and probably kick your dog, too. You simply have to be a heartless nasty person.

Until you can get them to put our kids down as human shields and come out to face us squarely on the issues, you will be debating them on their terms. They will not do so voluntarily, so we must remind the public that these are OUR kids and not the union's. We need to clearly replace their mantra with truth in advertising to be, "It's for the union."

Now that the NSEA is disarmed and their human shields are safely away, the adults can discuss why the monopoly of government schools is not in the students' best interests. American Economist Milton Friedman said in San Francisco last May, "We have schools that choose their students rather than parents and students choosing the schools." 

His statement is, as always, insightful and hits right to the point. The schools choose their students by virtue of zoning and geography. The diverse needs or aspirations of the students are not a consideration in this closed system. You have to work for the school district, beg or move to get around this lack of school choice.

The NSEA fights tooth and nail against school choice of any kind. They maintain complete control of the standards for teacher licensing to keep out highly educated professionals in other fields from teaching with onerous hoops to jump. Under the guise of maintaining teaching standards based on flaky concepts and methodology while denigrating content knowledge, they deny students the opportunity to learn from professionals with solid academic credentials. Fast-track teacher licensing for people from other professions never seems to materialize, being derailed by the NSEA. 

In one of the fastest growing states with a severe teacher shortage, even to the extent of importing teachers from overseas, one can clearly see how tight their grip (actually stranglehold) is on licensing. The NSEA's complete fear of competition at any level is damaging the academic opportunities of our children. 

Their competition fear further undermines education in Nevada with collective bargaining and uniform pay scales. The successful teachers who move their students along are paid the same as the worst and least knowledgeable. The NSEA resists merit pay and measuring student progress by teachers. One size fits all does not work for teachers any more than it does for students.

The NSEA does not represent many of the teachers' best interests. Highly valuable and skilled teachers would earn more in a competitive system. The price for equalized pay and job security the union provides is less opportunities for the best and the brightest in teaching. This in turn repels many talented people from ever entering the profession.

The NSEA is about power, money, maintaining their monopoly and advancing liberal causes. Clearly, the teacher union in Nevada is pursuing their own interests and agenda over the interests of students and many teachers. If we want higher qualified people teaching, open up the system. If we want quality education for our children, open up the system. School choice is for the children; imagine a cute kid picture here. LW