CCSD outlines its latest teacher pay proposal

The Clark County School District released details Friday about its latest offer for teacher pay during collective bargaining, including a copy of a proposed new salary schedule.

Contentious contract negotiations have been underway since late March between the district and Clark County Education Association, which represents about 18,000 licensed employees.

The district and teachers union held its latest bargaining sessions Thursday and Friday.

In a Friday news release, the district wrote that it’s “clear that there have been misunderstandings, and possible misrepresentations” about its contract proposals.

“We want to take this opportunity to set the record straight,” the district wrote.

The district’s offer now includes a 8.5 percent salary increase for educators during the first year of a new contract and 2 percent in the second.

That’s higher than its July 27 proposal — a nearly 7 percent increase the first year and 1 percent in the second.

The district’s proposal also includes all eligible employees receiving step movement on the salary schedule in both years.

The union’s proposal includes a 10 percent raise for all educators during the first year and 8 percent in the second, a 5 percent increase for special education teachers and $5,000 boosts for hard-to-fill positions.

The district said Friday it never refused to provide across-the-board pay increases for teachers. It also said it never rejected using Senate Bill 231 funds — with a total of $250 million appropriated to districts statewide — for supplemental pay increases.

The district said it’s working with the union to decide how to apply the district’s share, which officials previously estimated could be $170 million to $180 million.

“What remains in question is whether the Legislature will provide CCSD with the funds to continue those increases past June 30, 2025,” the district wrote. “To address this concern, CCSD proposed to CCEA virtually the same language that was agreed to by the teachers in the Carson City School District and elsewhere.”

Proposed new salary schedule

The district also wants a new salary schedule and released its proposed new one Friday.

It said that since the current scale went into effect in 2016, a significant number of teachers were placed in a way that didn’t align with their education or years of experience.

It has led to teachers with 10 years of experience, for example, being on the lowest rungs of the pay scale.

“We firmly believe that these inequities must be corrected in this contract for the good of the organization and our students and to address teacher retention,” the district wrote. “Historic opportunities require historic remedies. With this historic opportunity, we must right a wrong that has persisted too long.”

The district provided details about how many employees could see pay increases due to corrections in where they’re placed on the salary schedule and what those percentage bumps could be.

“We hope that CCEA would recognize how important and meaningful these increases are to the currently misaligned employees,” the district wrote.

The proposed new starting salary would be $53,354 — up from $50,115 currently — and the schedule tops out at $116,851.

The district wrote that it’s also proposing additional pay increases “to address vacancy levels in our most critical areas” — autism and self-contained special education teachers, educators in yet-to-be-defined hard-to-fill schools — and for coaches and club advisors.

It also said it would allocate an additional $14 million toward THT Health contributions in the first year and $7.7 million in the second.

“We look forward to continuing our negotiations on behalf of our hardworking teachers at the negotiation table in the coming weeks,” the district wrote.

Union’s response

The union wrote that the district — despite its “PR effort to sell their latest contract proposal” — essentially hasn’t added any more money than what they previously had on the table.

“In fact, CCSD’s proposal increases the disparity between frontline educators and highly paid administrators,” the union wrote.

Educators started the school year with the district reducing salaries by 1.875 percent, so the latest proposal essentially amounts to only a 6.6 percent increase, the union wrote.

“CCSD’s proposal also woefully fails to address our high need areas in Title 1 schools, which account for 82 percent of vacancies, and special need students are left understaffed,” the union wrote.

The union also alleged the district’s chief financial officer has “selectively provided school board trustees financial information that leads them to assume they have insufficient money to meet CCEA’s demands.”

The union also alleged Superintendent Jesus Jara has mischaracterized how Senate Bill 231 works “in order to justify his refusal to give educators the raise they deserve.”

“In short, CCSD has continued on its path of creating disparity between educators and principals,” the union wrote. “CCEA educators are determined to win a contract based on the funding they helped achieve in Carson City. The money is there. CCSD is refusing to pay educators what they are worth.”

Union members have protested amid contract negotiations, including at an Aug. 10 school board meeting. The union is planning another protest at the Aug. 24 school board meeting.

Union members have set an Aug. 26 deadline to reach an tentative collective bargaining agreement and will consider “work actions” if a contract isn’t in place, union leaders previously said.

The district filed a lawsuit July 31 against the union seeking to prevent a future teacher strike. State law prohibits public employees from striking.

A hearing in the case is scheduled for 8 a.m. Tuesday in Clark County District Court.

Contact Julie Wootton-Greener at jgreener@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2921. Follow @julieswootton on X.