Insights Into The Tax Dollars Poured Into Education
By: Doug Busselman, Executive Vice President
I’ve said before that the only reason we have a general fund in Nevada is to fund K-12 education. Despite the percentage of this fund that goes to pay for what is supposed to be our top priority – there will never be enough to satisfy the insatiable hunger for more by Nevada’s educational unions. This editorial in today’s Las Vegas Review Journal captures the situation extremely well, including the farce of how the 2009 Legislature “cut” the teacher’s pay by four percent will actually be carried by something other than smaller paychecks.
As part of the reform efforts that are a must for Nevada, implementing meaningful requirements for educational quality should be at the top of the list. Instead of measuring our state’s status by where Union officials and their enablers place us in terms of spending allocated per-pupil support, measurements need to focus on the quality of the education our children are receiving.
Merit pay should be based on the performance of students in the classroom. Likewise, unsatisfactory performance should carry consequences as well. Taxpayers should receive a return on the investments they are required to make.
Implementing an educational voucher system to facilitate competition with the public education system should be considered a must in the 2011 Nevada Legislature. Taxpayers should receive a return on the investments they are required to make.
Just showing up and drawing a paycheck cannot be acceptable. We know that there are truly dedicated and committed educators in the system. One would think that they join the reform effort, not willing to have their work tarnished by a union and a system which diminishes their work and creates the impression of Nevada’s education community as being nothing more than greedy gold-diggers.
Taxpayers should receive a return on the investments they are required to make.
I’ve said before that the only reason we have a general fund in Nevada is to fund K-12 education. Despite the percentage of this fund that goes to pay for what is supposed to be our top priority – there will never be enough to satisfy the insatiable hunger for more by Nevada’s educational unions. This editorial in today’s Las Vegas Review Journal captures the situation extremely well, including the farce of how the 2009 Legislature “cut” the teacher’s pay by four percent will actually be carried by something other than smaller paychecks.
As part of the reform efforts that are a must for Nevada, implementing meaningful requirements for educational quality should be at the top of the list. Instead of measuring our state’s status by where Union officials and their enablers place us in terms of spending allocated per-pupil support, measurements need to focus on the quality of the education our children are receiving.
Merit pay should be based on the performance of students in the classroom. Likewise, unsatisfactory performance should carry consequences as well. Taxpayers should receive a return on the investments they are required to make.
Implementing an educational voucher system to facilitate competition with the public education system should be considered a must in the 2011 Nevada Legislature. Taxpayers should receive a return on the investments they are required to make.
Just showing up and drawing a paycheck cannot be acceptable. We know that there are truly dedicated and committed educators in the system. One would think that they join the reform effort, not willing to have their work tarnished by a union and a system which diminishes their work and creates the impression of Nevada’s education community as being nothing more than greedy gold-diggers.
Taxpayers should receive a return on the investments they are required to make.
Posted by Doug Busselman at 6/21/2009 4:48 AM 
Categories: Nevada Educational Funding
Tags: K-12 Education Nevada Educational Funding
Categories: Nevada Educational Funding
Tags: K-12 Education Nevada Educational Funding
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