FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE:

July 13, 2010

CONTACT: Mike Trask
O: 702-258-2010
C: 702-994-6757
E: trask@roryreid.com

New Website Asks: Can Nevada Afford to Lose 1-in-5 Teachers?
1in5teachers.com provides personal perspective on Brian Sandoval's plan to cut education

Las Vegas, NV - A new online resource, 1in5teachers.com, invites viewers to meet five dedicated Nevada teachers, hear their stories, and wonder whether Nevada students can afford to lose any of them. Nevada would lose more than 5,000 teachers across the state, should Brian Sandoval enact his pink slip agenda for education.

According to his own budget plan, Sandoval would cut hundreds of millions of dollars in funding for education, laying off 1-in-5 Nevada teachers and raiding elementary school class-size reduction programs.

When questioned by the Las Vegas Review-Journal during a blink-and-you'd-miss-it public appearance nearly two weeks ago, Sandoval attempted to characterize his plan as giving teachers an "across the board salary reduction" - which the governor does not have the power to implement under Nevada law. The education cuts Sandoval proposes would, in fact, amount to layoffs of more than 5,000 teachers across the state.

Laying off 1-in-5 Nevada teachers would only accelerate the decline of our already struggling education system, with overcrowded classrooms, less individual attention for students, and less support for even the most dedicated teachers.

Brian Sandoval's pink slip agenda for education in Nevada would continue the failed policies of Jim Gibbons, pushing our schools even further down the wrong path. Nevada already ranks dead last in the nation in graduation rates, with less than 42 percent of students completing high school.

Now Brian Sandoval wants to make even more devastating cuts, including:

• Slashing teacher salaries by 20 percent or lay off more than 5,000 teachers. That's 1-in-5 Nevada teachers.
• Raiding $110 million from class-size reduction funds particularly targeting 7- and 8-year-olds.
• Pushing a voucher program that would drain millions from our public schools and wouldn't even begin to cover tuition for the average private school.
• Cutting 12 percent from faculty and staff at our colleges and universities - that's more than 750 professor and staff jobs lost.

Rory Reid is the only candidate for governor to offer solutions for today and a plan for Nevada's future success - supporting strong schools for a stronger economy. For more information about Rory's campaign or to download his plans -- visit Rory2010.com.

Note to media: To schedule interviews, please contact Mike Trask, press secretary, at 702-994-6757 or at trask@roryreid.com.

# # #