REVIEW-JOURNAL ENDORSEMENT: CCSD Trustee, District A

Lisa Guzman and Liberty Leavitt are both running for Clark County School District Board of Trustees, District A.

Ms. Guzman is the executive director of the Education Support Employees Association. That union represents support staff employees and bargains directly with the district. Unsurprisingly, she’s been endorsed by several other prominent unions, including Culinary Union Local 226, Teamsters Local 14 and the Nevada State Education Association. If Ms. Guzman is elected, taxpayers should be concerned that unions will be sitting on both sides of the bargaining table.

Her opponent is not without her own union connections. Ms. Leavitt is married to former Republican Senate Majority Leader Michael Roberson. He was a close ally of the Clark County Education Association, which has endorsed Ms. Leavitt. A PAC associated with the state union is upset that CCEA has paid $500,000 to a political firm where her husband now works.

That is something to monitor, but Ms. Leavitt also deserves the opportunity to present her own vision. That starts with a focus on student achievement, which she calls the “biggest challenge facing our school district.” She believes the board should spend 70 percent of its time on performance. The key to improving student achievement, she contends, is allowing those closest to the school — its leadership, teachers and families — to make site-based decisions.

It’d be good for the board to add a member who sees the school district reorganization as an achievement, not a threat. Liberty Leavitt is the our choice in District A.