Reminder: NSEA cares about teachers and money more than student achievement

In light of Nevada’s budget situation – the inevitable result of consistently increasing inflation-adjusted, per-capita spending – the Nevada State Education Association posted this on its homepage:

Education Funding is UNDER ATTACK!
Contact your legislators today

Education is UNDER ATTACK! Programs are at stake! Jobs are at stake!

Elected officials and candidates are playing political football with our profession and livelihood! The proposals that are floating out there are irresponsible, unfounded, and could be catastrophic if adopted by state legislators.

Lawmakers need to hear from you directly on how these cuts would impact your work and your students if you’re an educator and your children if you’re a parent. Your REAL story is what will make the difference! Please contact your legislators today. Call 1-800-992-0973 or click here to send them your message today…because we can’t take a gamble on our future! (Emphasis mine)

Notice the focus of the NSEA’s desperate cry – programs and jobs, not student achievement. This isn’t surprising, because the NSEA is a group of paid lobbyists on behalf of teachers, and there’s no correlation between spending and student achievement. (Each dot on this chart represents a state and its level of spending and student achievement.)

And the NSEA has been wildly successful at increasing spending (but not achievement levels). Nevada’s inflation-adjusted, per-pupil spending has nearly tripled over the past 50 years.

It’s time to stop listening to the hysterics of the paid lobbyists of the NSEA. They represent adults, not children.

For those who care about educating children more than paying adults more, there are a whole host of reforms that achieve the win-win of improving student achievement and saving taxpayer dollars.

In case it changes, here’s a screenshot of the NSEA’s homepage.