Lawmakers call on CCSD officials to ‘show up’ and help pay educators

Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, D-Las Vegas, said school districts have the ability to access new education funding authorized by the Legislature and meant to pay teachers and staff “what they’re owed.”

“We expect that they’re going to show up and help pay those educators and support staff so that we have them in our classrooms with our students,” Cannizzaro said of school districts. “Our students deserve that. Our families deserve that.”

Pay increases at issue

Cannizzaro was joined by Assembly Steve Yeager, who said the new funding — including a $2 billion increase in the state’s K-12 education budget and $250 million in matching funds meant for teacher raises — provides the means for “substantial pay increases.”

Pay increases for teachers are at the center of a tense battle between the Clark County School District and the Clark County Education Association, a teachers’ union representing more than 18,000 educators in the school district.

The union wants a salary raise of 10 percent in the first year and 8 percent in the second year for all educators, but district officials say the request would lead to a budget deficit. The district also said it wants a new salary schedule.

On Monday, the school district filed a lawsuit to block the union from striking after union officials said during a Saturday members meeting that it would consider “work actions.”

During the Wednesday press conference, Sen. Dina Neal, D-North Las Vegas, said Democrats are apprehensive about CCSD leadership.

“We are deeply concerned about CCSD leadership and their reputation about wanting to protect their reputation over students and over teachers,” Neal said. “We did not do a record investment in Clark County or statewide in order for this particular district that has the largest student [population] to nickel and dime teachers and students.”

In an email, the school district said it had offered to use the money it received through the legislation for teacher raises for the next two years, but couldn’t agree to provide those raises after the appropriation runs out in June 2025.

“The district simply cannot commit at this time to continuing the SB 231 pay increases after June 30, 2025, with no recurring revenues from which to pay them,” the district wrote in a statement. “To do so would put the district in potential financial jeopardy.”

Dispute over scholarships

Lawmakers also discussed a recent $3.2 million request from Gov. Joe Lombardo’s office meant to fund Opportunity Scholarships. The request, announced Friday, would use unallocated federal COVID-19 funds to prevent students already using the scholarship from losing access to those funds.

Increasing the amount available in Opportunity Scholarships, which provide funds for low-income families to help their children pay for private school tuition, was repeatedly touted as a priority of Gov. Joe Lombardo during the past legislative session, but were ultimately cut by Democrats.

“The Democrats in the Legislature refused to fund these scholarships, and the result is that unless we take action now, these children will be forced out of their schools for the upcoming school year. It’s unacceptable to me to let that happen,” Lombardo said in a statement Friday.

But Cannizzaro and Yeager said no discussion ever took place during the legislative session that students could lose scholarships.

“There was never, ever, ever, ever a discussion that if we did not do something with the funding, rather than the $6.65 million in law, that students could potentially lose the opportunity to stay in school,” Yeager said. “I would have loved to have had that discussion during session.”

In a statement, Lombardo spokesperson Elizabeth Ray said Democrats decided to “intentionally misremember” a meeting with Chief of Staff Ben Kieckhefer in the final days of the legislative session in which he “outlined a compromise that included funding Opportunity Scholarships at the 2022-2023 level, so that no current students would be impacted.”

“It’s unfortunate that Democratic ‘leaders’ are running from their actions now that they see the actual consequences on children and families,” Ray said. “The sad truth is not only did Democrats in the Legislature reject Governor Lombardo’s plan to provide scholarships and choice to low-income families for years to come, they rejected a compromise to take care of the children currently in the program.”

Yeager said the Interim Finance Committee, which will consider the request during its next meeting on Aug. 9, is working through the proposal and “gathering the information necessary to help us as legislators make an informed decision with respect to that request.”

Contact Taylor R. Avery at TAvery@reviewjournal.com. Follow @travery98 on Twitter.