In a protest held on Monday in Las Vegas, the head of the largest teachers union in the Clark County School District laid out their legislative priorities for the Nevada Legislature, which had just begun its biannual session in Carson City.
With support from about 100 teachers, John Vellardita, executive director of the Clark County Education Association, stated that the CCSD needs a more robust teacher pipeline that begins in high school, improved school safety, relief from the “administrative burden” on teachers, more budget control in the hands of school organization teams, financial audits, and, most importantly, increased funding.
Some of these have already been suggested by the Democratic leadership and Governor Joe Lombardo. Vellardita stated that CCEA has lawmakers prepared to carry bills for others.
Here is the mission of CCEA:
Funding: First-term Republican Lombardo emphasized a proposed budget that would typically provide $2 billion to public schools over the next two years in his State of the State address in January. Additionally, two Democrats, Assembly Speaker Steve Yeager and Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, made a case last week for a $250 million matching fund that would explicitly encourage school districts to increase teacher and school support staff salaries.
On Monday, Vellardita expressed his support for the proposals. He said that the Democrats’ proposal would result in wage increases of at least 10% in the first year and inflation adjustments in the second year of the budgeting biennium, while Lombardo’s budget would pencil out to almost $600 million for CCSD.
He passionately said, “This has never been done,” to rally participants gathering in front of the Grant Sawyer State Office Building close to downtown Las Vegas.
However, he pointed out that there is still a severe teacher shortage in the CCSD. Nearly 1,400 positions were vacant at the beginning of the school year, and “hundreds” of teaching positions still are.
He said, “This needs to end. Tens of thousands of students have started this school year and will finish this school year without an effective educator in their classroom. “If there are no educators, what use is money?”
He claimed that lawmakers, such as Assemblywoman Shea Backus, are open to legislation pushing every high school to develop a “teacher academy” that trains future teachers beginning in their teens in order to address this. If they agree to teach in Nevada after completing the program’s three years, starting as sophomores, students might receive 12 college credits and free tuition.
This would broaden the “teaching and training” initiatives that certain CCSD high schools’ vocational and technical education divisions now run.
Safety: According to Vellardita, Nevada’s current restorative justice law “handcuffs” schools, preventing them from removing troublesome children right away. With the support of Assemblywoman Angie Taylor, CCEA will promote safety. Additionally, more social workers and mental health professionals will be employed in schools to address the behavioral health needs of pupils.
“Enough with the assaults, enough with the physical violence – student on student, student on instructors,” Vellardita declared.
Reduced administrative work and testing: According to Vellardita, Sen. Rochelle Nguyen will support legislation that would cut back on standardized testing and other activities that don’t directly benefit students.
Carryover monies: The CCEA wants school organization teams, which are made up of staff, parents, and members of the local community who advise principals on operations at each campus, to have more power when it comes to approving site budgets and to use any leftover funds each year. The principal currently has the final say, and funds can be carried over from year to year.
Money shouldn’t accumulate and go unapplied, according to Vellardita, “so that these schools don’t have these small bank accounts.” He suggested that schools use the money right away for initiatives like reading assistance after school.
Financial oversight: Vellardita wholeheartedly supported Lombardo’s proposal to examine the financial audits of the state’s charter school authority and all 17 school districts in Nevada. Earlier on Monday, Lombardo issued an executive order requiring the audits.
Vellardita used the fact that the union backed a mining tax for education in 2021 to show that CCEA might be able to make a difference at the Capitol. He stated that he will not support tax increases this year. But with the significant investment that the governor and the legislature are suggesting, he added, “we are encouraging accountability and outcomes.”
