Can Johnny read? Apparently, nobody cares.

As a member of the Nevada Legislature, I was placed onto three legislative committees; Government Affairs, Health and Human Services and Education. Of the three, Education was my favorite. Government Affairs primarily existed to massage the egos of the various municipalities around the state and Health and Human Services was run by a chairwoman so corrupt she makes Ted Stevens look like a Boy Scout.

One of the things a member of the Education Committee gets to do is see how a state administrates its schools from behind the curtain. Here in Nevada, we had and continue to have a real problem in both the lack of evenhandedness of administration and the perception of what the job of a teacher entails. Top administrators in Nevada’s schools can earn upwards of $300,000 or more. A classroom teacher begins at about $30,000 and has to apply for food stamps just to eat. A top Administrator works an average of 45 hours per week, shifting most of the actual hands-on duties to their staff. A teacher will put in over 60 hours with no staff help at all. Administration can retire with nearly no loss in the shift from salary to pension, including all the additional benefits. Most teachers wind up having to take on a part time job after retirement to make ends meet. Teachers are not allowed to keep their Social Security. No, I’m not kidding. That is what happens and it is a matter of law.

Well, you say, teachers only work 9 months out of the year, don’t they? No, that is a media and talk show host lie. Today there are nearly as many 12-month schools as there are 9-month schools, and even if a teacher is contracted to work at a standard 9-month school, it is only the classrooms that shut down in summer. For the teacher, the job continues. There is summer school, lesson planning, meetings, continuing education to keep up with all the changes that happen if every discipline, and so on. Those who say that teachers have it easy and are overpaid for what they do, know nothing. In every single case these commentators are parroting a lie in the hopes that if they repeat it often enough the people will believe it. Unfortunately that is exactly what has happened.

To the vast majority of Americans, teaching is viewed as an easy high-paying job. So, can Johnny read? As far as the American public is concerned, who cares? It is obvious to anyone willing to look that most parents don’t care. Politicians seem only to be concerned about their own campaign and Swiss bank accounts. On the Republican side of the aisle, they don’t want to expend any resources to support the teacher, unless it is for the staff in an exclusive private school their spoiled children are attending. On the Democrat side of the aisle, they are more than willing to raise taxes for schools, but they will only allow the money to go into the hands of the Administration who then let only a tiny fraction of what they have acquired trickle down into the hands of the teacher.

Nevada has pundits on both side of the aisle. It is interesting to note that those of a libertarian bent who continuously denigrate public education, have never had a child in school. The liberals are the same. These fountains of endless wisdom either home school or send their kids to an exclusive private facility. So when you read their rants, read them with the understanding that they are making everything up and have no experiential knowledge whatsoever.

You may scoff at this, but there are far more conservative teachers in the classroom than not. Most of the liberal elitism comes from the School Board, school administration, and union leadership. Many of these teachers have corresponded with me about what they face on a daily basis, and in spite of vast inequalities, these men and women continue to do a job far beyond the pay they receive. Many will purchase school supplies that they give to children in their classroom. I have seen teachers buying cases of paper because their school will not supply it, while at the same time demanding that the paperwork be done. Numerous teachers have detailed additional paperwork being handed down from the administration, paperwork that rightfully should be handled by the office and has nothing whatsoever to do with teaching.

So, it comes down to this question: what would you do to improve education? Should teachers be paid a wage that matches what they do? Should administrators take a cut to help? What about making parents responsible for their kids? The comment box is open.