Column: Teachers have best interests at heart, union doesn't

Had lunch with a buddy of mine, Joe Elliott, who teaches humanities at the prison in the high-school diploma program. Joe's a longtime teacher. As a matter of fact, I have several esteemed teacher acquaintances, both retired and active, contrary to some people's opinions.

Anyway, Joe told me the grapevine has it that some teachers think me to be a teacher hater because of my past columns on public education. I was surprised to hear this since I've always considered myself a supporter of teachers as the victims in a hapless system. However, I do despise the teachers union and almost everything it stands for, and it despises me.

Of course, even the teachers I know and respect are members of the union. It's almost impossible for a teacher not to be a member and have any social intercourse with other teachers. My antipathy for the teacher's union began back in the 1970s when I sat on the Carson City School Board and had to negotiate with sophomoric union reps who claimed to be professional educators but behaved more like longshoremen.

Am I generally anti-union? Hardly. I'm a life member of the American Federation of Musicians, having joined at the age of 16 when I began going on the road with big dance bands during my high school summer vacations. I'm also an honorary member of the State of Nevada Employees Association, an honor given to me when I was a legislator. I am a strong supporter of unions and associations which act to the benefit of their memberships in the areas of working conditions, salary and benefits and conduct their affairs with professional dignity.

However, I'm highly suspect of unions which also purport to be the judges of professional standards and license requirements, and have it within their political power through lobbying and buying candidates to set such standards for their own members. You see, in musicians' circles, we either knew how to blow our horns or we didn't! It was obvious to everyone else in the band or orchestra. But in teacher circles there is no unbiased way to sift the wheat from the chaff unless the chaff is dreadfully deficient, and then the union will file suit on behalf of the chaff.

How do I feel about teachers' pay? It's lousy for most teachers and probably liberal for marginal teachers. But only the teachers themselves (and a few administrators) really know who the best teachers are. Personally, I think teachers are the pawns in the game. If you've ever read my past columns on this subject and you didn't just scan or speed-read, then you know my criticisms are of the unwieldy, unresponsive public education system! The establishment!

Teachers are the main hope for public education. But we need a system which will allow good, spirited competition for excellence within each community between schools, with excellence being rewarded monetarily with higher pay across the board for positive results.

And I know such results can be measured. We need a system which will restore teacher authority in the classroom as it was in the 1940s, with immunity from parental lawsuits unless there's a very serious cause. It's bad enough that teachers have to be surrogate mothers and fathers without being shackled by limited discipline policies. Teachers also must be partners in curriculum.

Furthermore, we need a high school educational system which will emphasize technical arts equally with college-bound curricula. It's way past time that we grow up and stop promoting university and give the majority of our kids a chance to be what they really ought to be.

One more thing: When I was a legislator, I was the only one to sponsor a bill for sales tax on services to broaden our state economic base to protect education from the ups and downs of our tourist economy, establishing a new mechanism for increased funding as required.

That bill would have passed had it not been for a reluctant governor who was afraid to have his name associated with a new tax. Now, Gov. Guinn has the same dilemma which should have been solved by the gutless ones 17 years ago!

No, you've never heard me cry out for vouchers, or to junk public education in favor of private schools. I've consistently expressed my profound support for teachers who can teach in today's environment.

And I've relentlessly lobbied for support to revamp our public education system from top to bottom. It's antiquated, cumbersome and self-serving! Who knows, if I live long enough, I may one day be considered one of the better friends public school teachers have ever had.

"Unfortunately, often in the eyes of others we're what we're perceived to be, not what we are...." Gaius Phlebitus, Roman bartender

(Bob Thomas is a Carson City businessman, local curmudgeon and former member of the Carson City School Board and Nevada State Assembly. )