By Ben Velderman
EAGnews.org

LAS VEGAS – Pay raises for some teachers, pink slips for others.

That’s the final ruling from the arbitrator charged with resolving a year-long contract dispute between Nevada’s Clark County School District and its teachers union, the Clark County Education Association.

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Superintendent Dwight Jones had asked Clark County’s 18,000 educators to forego pay raises for two years to help the financially beleaguered district fill a $63 million budget hole without any teacher layoffs.

Union leaders refused, demanding the district make good on its contractually obligated pay raises, even though the slightly larger paychecks will cost an estimated 1,350 teachers their jobs.

“About 300,000 students are the losers” from yesterday’s “absurd” decision, concludes a ReviewJournal.com editorial.

Adding to the unjust nature of the arbitrator’s decision is the fact that young, less-experienced teachers will be the ones to lose their jobs, despite recent legislation requiring districts and unions to develop new policies that consider a variety of factors beyond seniority when determining layoffs.

Those policies haven’t been developed, which means the forthcoming layoffs will be based on the district’s current contract that only considers a teacher’s length of service, reports the ReviewJournal.com.

So goodbye to you, young elementary teacher, whose patience and encouraging spirit helped many struggling students learn how to read.

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Goodbye to you, young middle school teacher, whose compassion and empathy made a real difference to the at-risk students who exist on society’s margins.

And goodbye to you, young high school math teacher, whose enthusiasm and innovative teaching methods helped students grasp those complicated but essential concepts they’ll need to succeed in college.

You were making a difference in your students’ lives … but your union needs your salary in order to give the older teachers a little bit more in their paychecks every week. They hope you’ll understand.

Sure, it will be tough to find another teaching job in this economy, and you’re probably going to suffer severe financial hardships. But your union will work hard to elect politicians who will ensure you get the 99 weeks of unemployment you qualify for. Maybe they’ll even pressure Congress into passing another, $10 billion temporary “edujobs” bailout.

The CCEA’s got your back.

Solidarity forever.