Pay hard way to measure

It would be a lot easier to defend teachers' salaries if they weren't so darn high on the list. Nevada teachers rank 19th in the nation for pay.

According to the American Federation of Teachers, the average teacher salary in Nevada was $49,426 in 2006-07. The average salary listed in the 2009 Legislative Counsel Bureau's Fiscal Report is $52,497.

Interestingly, Douglas County's teachers fall in the bottom of those pay ranges, with a starting teacher earning $29,527 and those with a bachelor's degree topping out at $37,082, far lower than the state average. Yet, ironically, the county's students tend to lead the state in test scores.

We don't expect Nevada students to be first in the nation. We're 35th in population and as long as we're somewhere in that range, we're where we should be.

We also don't expect our teacher pay to be last in the nation.

We think both those things should fall somewhere in the middle.

The teachers' union has clearly done an excellent job of getting teachers the pay they seek. But we think even the teachers will recognize that if they continue to collect salaries in the nation's top 20, people will expect a commensurate increase in student performance.

Otherwise, no matter how persuasive their union, they will have a hard time convincing lawmakers to vote for increases in pay without also requiring improved performance.