GOP questions teachers’ union call for higher pay

Thursday, Jan. 25, 2001 | 10:16 a.m.

CARSON CITY -- Republican legislators tangled Wednesday with the teachers' union, which said that Gov. Kenny Guinn's plan for a one-time bonus of less than 5 percent "doesn't solve the problem" of attracting and retaining teachers in Clark County.

Al Bellister, an executive with the Nevada State Education Association, told a joint legislative budget committee that teachers are the only group not getting a "meaningful, sustainable" raise in the governor's budget.

Bellister said Clark County has the sixth largest school district in the nation but ranks 19th in starting salaries, $26,847, compared with the national average of $30,800.

But Assembly Minority Leader Lynn Hettrick, R-Gardnerville, questioned how many of those urban districts have income taxes and what the cost of living is there. He suggested Nevada teachers are ahead of the game.

"You're giving up half figures," he said.

Bellister said this is the third time in 10 years that teachers will receive no pay raise. If the Legislature adopts the Guinn plan, Bellister said, the pay for a teacher would be the same in two years as it is today.

But Senate Majority Leader Bill Raggio, R-Reno, said teachers still have the right to bargain with local districts for pay raises, in addition to the Guinn bonuses.

Raggio complained that when teacher pay is compared to other states, the fringe benefits such as retirement are not included in Nevada numbers, which make a big difference.

Guinn's budget department presented figures to show that the average salary of licensed instructional personnel in Nevada -- teachers through superintendents -- was $40,511, and with fringe benefits, $52,255. Average starting salaries statewide are $29,833, not including fringe benefits, the figures showed.

Bellister received support from Sen. Joe Neal, D-North Las Vegas, who said many teachers decline recruitment efforts from the Clark County School District because they can "go somewhere else and get better salaries."

Guinn is proposing $57 million for the one-time bonus this year for teachers and has pledged that if tax revenues come in faster than expected in the next two years, he will call a special session to allocate the money to education.

Of the 1,600 teachers hired by the Clark County School District in 1997-98, 28 percent have already left, Bellister said, creating a 7 percent turnover rate, compared with the national average of 6 percent.

"They're employing long-term substitutes who are not qualified," Bellister said.

Forty-five percent of the teachers in Clark County have four years or less of classroom experience, he said.

But Hettrick said that's a factor of growth.