Latest news with #ClarkCountyEducationAssociation
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Teachers union looks to lawmakers to allow court-authorized strikes, reform arbitration process
Teachers strike posters line a whiteboard in a Clark County Education Association conference room on Aug. 23, 2019. (Photo by: April Corbin Girnus/Nevada Current) The Clark County teachers union is pushing legislation to speed up the arbitration process and allow teachers to petition district court to allow them to legally go on strike. If the Legislature doesn't pass the proposal — or if Gov. Joe Lombardo vetoes it — the union says it is prepared to make their case directly to Nevada voters through their 'right to strike' initiative, which is already slated to appear on the 2026 General Election ballot. Clark County Education Association, which represents the approximately 18,000 teachers and licensed professionals within the Clark County School District, is backing Senate Bill 161. The bill would establish an expedited arbitration process for teachers unions and school districts, which could kick in if a contract has not been reached 75 days before the start of a new school year. More controversially, the bill would also establish a pathway for K-12 public school teachers to legally go on strike, something they are currently prohibited from doing. The bill, which was given an exemption from standard legislative deadlines, received its first hearing Wednesday night in the Senate Committee on Government Affairs. The bill was immediately passed out of committee on a 5-2 vote and is headed to the full Senate for possible consideration. State Sen. Rochelle Nuygen, the Las Vegas Democrat sponsoring the bill, told the committee that the threshold set in SB 161 to authorize a strike is high. Teachers would have to make the case that their proposed strike would be 'equally or less detrimental' to students than remaining in schools that are failing them through existing policies or conditions. The strike would also not apply to special education services, food services, mental health counseling, and after-school supervision. Nguyen characterized it as a nuanced approach that meets the spirit of the state's existing anti-strike law while addressing the established pattern of prolonged arbitration between the fifth largest school district in the country and its largest bargaining unit. In contrast, the right-to-strike ballot initiative would be a 'blunt instrument,' she argued. Nevada state law prohibits legislators from altering a law established through the initiative petition process for two regular sessions (so, four years) after it is approved by voters, so lawmakers couldn't quickly alter it if issues arose. 'That's the choice,' CCEA Executive Director John Vellardita told the Nevada Current in an interview. 'The choice is: This is going to be on the ballot in '26. We have the resources to run a successful campaign. We've done field research. We have the support.' Bradley Schrager, an attorney who represented the teacher's union in numerous cases two years ago, pointed out in the bill hearing that CCSD and CCEA have reached a negotiation impasse and gone into arbitration four times in the past decade. 'There's only five two-year cycles in a decade,' he added. The pattern of prolonged arbitration means teachers are routinely beginning the academic year without new contracts in place, which can be demoralizing and lead to poor teacher retention, argued CCEA members who spoke in support of the bill. That was the case in 2023, when the Legislature and Lombardo approved a K-12 education budget they routinely described as 'historic' in its funding levels, only to see another impasse and months of public bickering between the district and union. That year, a contract agreement was reached in December, halfway through the school year. That fall, a significant percentage of teachers at a handful of schools coordinated 'sickouts,' leading to those schools closing for one day. The court ruled it strike activity, which put the union at risk of punishment. SB 161 'forces cooperation at a very early time,' said Schrager, and evens the playing field between the union and district. But not everyone agrees with that sentiment. Tom Clark, a lobbyist representing the Nevada Association of School Boards and the Reno+Sparks Chamber of Commerce, suggested teachers strikes would wreak havoc on communities, make national news, and cause pain and suffering to families. Tens of thousands of children could be left without childcare, he added. 'That's the leverage the strike gives to one side of the equation,' he said. 'That imbalance does nothing for negotiations, does nothing for the benefits of students, the teachers, the families, the people in our community that rely on the vital public service that our teachers and our schools provide.' The Nevada State Education Association, whose affiliate units include teachers in non-Clark counties and support staff in CCSD, is opposed to the bill on the grounds it would give teacher's unions an unfair advantage over other bargaining groups. NSEA and CCEA have an antagonistic relationship with one another. The Nevada Association of School Superintendents is also opposed, with lobbyist Mary Pierczynski arguing that states like Nevada have outlawed teacher strikes 'for very good reason.' 'The emphasis tonight has been on Clark County and CCEA but there are 17 school districts in our state and they will all be impacted,' she added. CCSD did not participate in the hearing and has not expressed a public position on the bill. When contacted by the Current for comment, the district's media relations department stated it is tracking the bill. 'District staff work with legislators to monitor changes made to the language in bill drafts. CCSD provides public comment on bills as appropriate throughout the process as the legislation progresses,' continued the statement. Nguyen in her presentation emphasized the bill is not a criticism of Jhone Ebert, CCSD's new superintendent, who started last month. Nguyen said she and others working on the bill are 'rooting for her success.' This year's legislative session is scheduled to end on June 2. That leaves SB 161 a little over three weeks to pass both chambers of the Legislature and make it to the governor's desk.
Yahoo
14-02-2025
- Politics
- Yahoo
Armed with threat of 2026 ballot question, Clark County teachers union plots legislative agenda
Teachers strike posters line a whiteboard in a Clark County Education Association conference room on Aug. 23, 2019. (Photo by: April Corbin Girnus/Nevada Current) Clark County Education Association Executive Director John Vellardita confirmed to Nevada Current the union is not asking state lawmakers for a hearing on their proposal to give Nevada teachers the right to strike. Instead, they will be using their ballot measure as leverage during this year's legislative session. It's a strategy pulled directly from a playbook the union created four years ago. In 2021, CCEA had two approved ballot questions in their back pocket — one raising gaming tax, another raising sales tax. They withdrew both after the passage of a new mining tax that directly funds the state's K-12 public education system. This year's ballot measure, dubbed A Teacher In Every Classroom, is approved to appear before voters in the 2026 General Election if the Legislature and governor do not pass the proposal themselves during the first 40 days of this year's session, and if the union doesn't withdraw it themselves. Vellardita declined to say what exactly the union, which represents approximately 18,000 teachers and licensed personnel within the Clark County School District, would consider a fair trade for pulling the strike ballot initiative. 'We're going to get something,' said Vellardita. 'That's all I'll say at this point. If we don't get anything, we're prepared for '26. We have the resources. We believe we have community support.' Nevada law currently bars all public employees from striking and establishes binding arbitration as the remedy for contract negotiations that have reached an impasse. A Teacher In Every Classroom would create a carve out that allows teachers and non-teacher licensed staff (like school nurses and psychologists). It would not apply to other public employees. Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo last month told KTNV he opposes giving Nevada teachers the ability to strike. Senate Majority Leader Nicole Cannizzaro, a Las Vegas Democrat, supports the petition, according to her caucus staff. Vellardita previously said the union would be open to 'some kind of alternative remedy' established by the Legislature to bring quicker resolutions to contract negotiation disputes. He reiterated that position this week. 'That's a very important issue,' he said. 'The ability for educators to level the playing field in collective bargaining. There is not a school district (or) teachers' union in this state that has gone through more than CCEA in the last decade plus. Four different binding arbitrations, lots of money, lots of time dragged out. We're operating on a law that's 60 years old that has to change.' Nevada's anti-strike law dates back to 1969 and the establishment of the first statewide law governing the settlement of disputes between public labor and management. State Sen. Rochelle Nguyen, a Las Vegas Democrat who CCEA supported in a competitive primary challenge backed by the Culinary Union, is sponsoring Senate Bill 161, which would, among other things, allow a union to petition the court to authorize a strike. The court would have to determine if a proposed strike would 'be equally or less detrimental to the pupils within the school district' than the continuance of the policies or conditions the union is attempting to alleviate by means of a strike. Those conditions, the bill language says, could relate 'to the physical, emotional or mental health and safety of teachers in the school district, the numbers of teachers teaching in a school or the school district, the size of classes in the school district or the intentional failure of a school district to comply with any provision of state law or regulations, that is detrimental to the wellbeing of pupils within the school district.' Nguyen could not be reached for comment Thursday. Vellardita may be hoping to avoid having the teachers strike measure on the ballot next year, but one thing he would welcome is an advisory question to gauge public support for raising taxes to support the state's public education system. Nevada Revised Statute doesn't currently allow for statewide advisory questions, though they are an option at the city or county level. The Commission on School Funding in 2022 released a report laying out what lawmakers could do to bring Nevada's per-pupil spending up to the national average. It identified possible new funding sources, including expanding sales tax to include digital products instead of just tangible ones, and reforming property taxes. Those tax reform proposals have not come to fruition, though significant financial investments were made last session through other means. The Commission, which had been scheduled to sunset, was extended for an additional two years and released another report on optimal school funding. 'It's the same report,' says Vellardita in an admonishment of the lack of action. 'So how do you move the needle? If you don't have the leadership to act on this because you don't think the voters are there on investing in education to levels that very well may make a significant difference in a kid's education, then let the voters decide. If you don't want to decide, let voters decide.' The union head concedes he doesn't know how an advisory question would shake out, but he believes it's a conversation worth happening with the public. He added that the eventual ask for more financial investment is part of why another pillar of CCEA's priorities center on increasing accountability among school districts, education leaders, and teachers. Many of those priorities align with an omnibus education bill expected to be introduced by Cannizzaro. Complete bill language has not yet been made public but the majority leader has said it would mandate minimum professional qualifications for school district superintendents and chief financial officers, establish an oversight board that could take remedial action on districts that fail to meet certain obligations, and establish administrator-to-teacher staffing ratios. Editor's Note: This article has been corrected to reflect who would be covered by strike ballot measure. It applies only to teachers and other licensed staff.
