FDR was right

While I can honestly say that I almost never agree with President Franklin Roosevelt, I did find one area, public union collective bargaining. In fact, the former President of the AFL-CIO feels the same way. Not only were former union Presidents and United States Presidents against public sector collective bargaining, but teacher union officials openly admit that the unions only look out for the teacher, not the student; usually at the expense of the student.

In my last article, I began to explain how a simple Nevada law, NRS 288 has slowly eroded the quality of education in our state. Not only has Nevada law hurt education in our state, but the Department of Education has hurt student achievement not only in Nevada but across the nation. The actual beginnings of the Department of Education date back to the 1860's, it did not become a cabinet level department until 1980. The US once ranked as high as second on the list and has continually moved down the list over the decades to where we are now, around 14th, even though we spend more money than any other country on education. The US Department of Education has a budget of over $70 billion and does not teach a single student. Since the government does not produce anything, the money must come from the tax payers in the many states. The DOE takes money from the states, take their cut and redistribute where they see fit. The DOE is picking the winners and losers. Would it not be better to let the states keep their money and fund their own education? The omission of education in the US Constitution means that issue is left to the states, not the federal bureaucracy. Vladamir Lenin was quoted as saying, "give me a child for eight years and it will be a Bolshevik for life."

NRS 288 is a law passed to appease public sector unions, but some of the sections of the law give overreaching power to the unions at the expense of the tax payer and more importantly the students. The Nevada Policy Institute did a study on the affects of NRS 288 on education, the report does an excellent job breaking down several of the reasons this law is killing not only the achievement in our schools but also helping to break the states budget. The one area I wanted to illuminate was section 150, items that are included under collective bargaining or more importantly what is not included under collective bargaining. NRS 288.150 clearly outlines the items that are mandatory to negotiate like sick days and wages but also includes negotiations on the tax payer paying the cost of union deductions. Yes, that's correct, the school district (tax payer funded) has to pay the additional overhead cost. Section 150.6 states that anything that does not fall under mandatory collective bargaining must still be discussed just not negotiated. This is the area that has slowly been abused, the unions stealing more tax dollars and providing mediocre (at best) results. Unions have also created a atmosphere that strives for mediocrity, rewarding teachers on years of service and credits obtained instead of student achievement. Why put forth the effort when you know when and how much your next raise will be. The seniority system ignores merit and ability and keeps higher priced teachers requiring additional layoffs. Everything the teachers unions strive for is hurting education. Less class time, more prep time, reduced work calendars, higher pay, tax payer funded benefits, tenure, very generous sick and personal leave and the seniority system all work to benefit the teacher at the expense of education.

Please see my examiner article for links.