Memo: NSEA Opposes SB431

SB431 would lift the cap on the state Rainy Day Fund from 20% to 30% of total state general fund appropriations. This will have the impact of withholding hundreds of millions of dollars from vital public services. Between the expanded Rainy Day fund and the Education Stabilization Account, nearly $2.5 billion dollars will sit in accounts, while our students and educators suffer.

This week, the National Education Association released their annual Ranking of the States for 2022, and Nevada continues to struggle. Nevada once again ranks 48th in the country in per-pupil funding, more than $5000 behind the national average and about $1000 behind both Alabama and Mississippi. This session, we again have heard about “historic” funding efforts. However, the Commission on School Funding has already testified that most of the additional proposed funding will go towards increasing costs. Right now, legislatures across the country are increasing school funding to keep up with inflation, meaning without significant additional resources beyond the $2000 per-pupil increase proposed by the Governor, Nevada will do little better than running in place.

NSEA has often discussed the crisis of educator vacancies in Nevada schools. Since FY21 the total number of teachers in Nevada is projected to decline by 3200 teachers, more than 15% of the workforce— by far the largest projected reduction in the nation. That’s why we say it is Time for 20, a 20% raise for every Nevada educator, so we can stop the bleeding of our workforce.

We know Nevada has a serious vacancy problem in education support professionals, including paraprofessionals who are integral to student learning and bus drivers who are responsible for getting students to and from school. The NEA reported this week that the average Nevada education support professional earns $37,210/year. That’s nearly $20,000 less than what is needed for a family of two to have a modest standard of living. That’s why we say it’s Time for 20, starting pay of $20/hour for workers who make our schools run.

Meanwhile, Nevada once again ranks first in the nation in class size with nearly 22 students in average daily attendance per teacher. Nevada’s largest in the nation class sizes don’t just impact student learning. They are a serious working condition issue for classroom educators and also contribute to issues of student behavior and school safety. As we’ve heard, there’s no way to effectively implement restorative justice when you have 40 or more students in a classroom. That’s why we say it’s Time for 20, with class sizes of 20 students.

It's a rainy day in Nevada schools. That’s why it is irresponsible to continue to underfund education with $2.5 billion slated for reserves. NSEA encourages legislators to program a large portion of reserves to keep moving forward toward optimal education funding, not just running in place, so we can ensure a high-quality education for every Nevada student.

Properly funding schools and other public services is hard work, and it isn’t flashy like the proposal to create the Nevada Way Account, where the Governor with approval of minority leaders can spend hundreds of millions of dollars on public/private partnerships and tax giveaways to corporations.