Public Comment: Nevada Board of Education

The Nevada State Education Association has been the voice of Nevada educators for over 120 years. NSEA represents educators in every Nevada school district. We represent teachers and other licensed education professionals as well as education support professionals.

Education support professionals (ESPs) are a critical component of the family of educators in our schools. Our students are complete human beings with a range of needs that must be met in order for learning to take place. Paraprofessionals tirelessly support students in their learning. Transportation professionals make sure our kids arrive safely in the morning and return home the same way. Nutrition professionals make sure no child is trying to learn on an empty stomach. Custodial and maintenance keep the learning environment clean and safe. Tech professionals do the necessary task of keeping our students online. Clerical professionals do multiple jobs to keep the school offices operational and assist administrators. Health Aide Professionals take care of student medical needs.

ESPs are hardworking, and without them, our schools could not run. At the same time ESPs are the lowest-paid employees in school districts with starting pay for some job classes around $11 per hour. Education support professionals typically come from the communities they serve and reflect the diversity of students attending our schools.

We have been concerned about comments made at the June Board meeting on the reorganization of the Clark County School District when discussing service level agreements, which seemed to disparage the work of some education support professionals and to promote outsourcing some of these public jobs.

NSEA strongly believes when trusted educators are replaced with private contractors, the overall quality and safety of our public education system is compromised.

Contracting out public work also impacts the quality of jobs available to our community members, converting decent union jobs to minimum wage without benefits. This only worsens the cycle of poverty that education equity advocates have been trying to address in schools in our poorest communities.

We appreciate President Ortiz’s willingness to discuss the importance of public work provided by education support professionals and look forward to working with this board to continue to improve the quality of public education for every Nevada student.