|
Key Economic and Social Indicators for Nevada
Our counterpart in New York annually gathers up this whole series of interesting and varied information on how the state compares on many issues. We have worked with the basic information they collected and highlighted Nevada. This is information that you should ponder. Some is not related to manufacturing, but still offers a good profile on the state. We hope you find it useful.
(Tables 1 through 48 originally published by The Public Policy Institute of New York State, Inc. www.ppinys.org in Just The Facts: 2001 Edition.)
Nevada Classroom Teachers' Salaries
Teachers are an essential part of our society and integral to the training of future employees. Good teachers are seldom paid enough for their contributions. However, the heavy unionization of teachers over the last few decades has lead to an increasing percentage of ineffective teachers.
The current pay system for teachers is based on longevity and number of degrees rather than classroom effectiveness. Teacher pay has been a continuing sore point in Nevada since the Nevada State Education Association (NSEA or the teachers' union) sponsored a petition drive to raise teacher pay at the expense of business. Many in the business community would support the concept IF the NSEA plan also included real increases in student performance. The NSEA plan didn't address student performance.
We believe that teacher pay is going to be a hot button issue and that you should see the salary schedules for the larger counties. In the fall of 2001 the unions declared an impasse and sent contract negotiations to arbitration rather than accept the raise package offered by the school districts and legislature. None of the attached salary schedules reflect the conclusion of the negotiations. The results of arbitrators (all for out of state) have tended to favor the union positions partially because of the provisions of NRS 288.
Keep in mind that the work year for most teachers is 185-190 days and that the school districts make the total contribution to the retirement system on behalf of each teacher (approximately 18.75%). Most teacher contracts allow for sick time and a few days of personal leave. The work year for most companies is 260 days less vacation time, sick time, paid time off or whatever else may be time off. The average workweek for American industry is officially 40 hours, but many work much longer than that. A teacher's workday varies by school, but most arrive at school around 7 a.m. and can leave by about 3 p.m. Many teachers arrive early, stay late, routinely do work at home and take on many extra duties. They are the people that earn their pay and make a difference in the lives of our children. There are other teachers that do the absolute minimum to take home their checks. The current system has no way to sort them out.
We will replace these with the final settlement contract schedules as we receive them.
|
Department of Taxation Announces
Nevada Tax Amnesty Program
The Nevada Tax Commission has authorized a five month
amnesty program for persons and companies doing business in Nevada who may have
a tax liability. The taxes included
in the amnesty program, which will begin February 1, 2002 and end June 30, 2002,
are sales and use tax, business tax, tire surcharge fee, short-term lessor fee
and other tobacco products tax. The
amnesty program relieves the payment of all penalties and interest as provided
by Nevada Revised Statutes for the late payment and late filing of tax returns,
provided the outstanding debt is paid in full during the amnesty period.
Tax
Amnesty News Release
Tax Amnesty Fact
Sheet
Common
Tax Errors
Full details and related forms about the amnesty program
will be available February 1, 2002 by contacting your local Department of
Taxation office or accessing the Department’s web site at http://tax.state.nv.us.
|
|
Charlton Heston's Harvard Speech
For 50 years, the Harvard Law School Forum has been sponsoring speeches by luminaries ranging from Fidel Castro to Gerald Ford to Dr. Ruth. Sometimes the speeches have generated a bit of media coverage, sometimes not. But one by Charlton Heston has taken on a life of its own. Heston, the actor and conservative activist, delivered a stem-winder to about 200 listeners about "a cultural war that's about to hijack your birthright to think and say what resides in your heart."
"He knew he was coming to a liberal environment, and clearly a group of his listeners was conservative and another was more liberal," said David Christopherson, president of the forum. "About half respectfully challenged him during the questions. It generated a lot of debate around the campus. But what happened caught us off-guard."
What happened was Rush Limbaugh's radio talk show. On March 15, Limbaugh read the entire speech on the air, only to find himself bombarded with thousands of requests for a copy of it. The same thing happened at Harvard Law. "We couldn't keep up with all the requests," said Mike Chmura at Harvard. "It really didn't have legs and might have been forgotten if Mr. Limbaugh hadn't decided to deliver it."
read the speech here.
|
