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Heather Cory / File photo
Clark County School District officials say Gov. Brian Sandoval’s proposed budget would mean job cuts and larger class sizes to make up for a possible $250 million shortfall next fiscal year. A classroom at Green Valley High School is shown here.
Thursday, Feb. 24, 2011 | 11:40 a.m.
Sun Coverage
CARSON CITY – Gov. Brian Sandoval’s reduced education budget would result in the Clark County School District laying off thousands of employees and possibly force officials to raise property taxes to pay off construction bonds, school officials say.
Carolyn Edwards, president of the Clark County School Board, and Jeff Weiler, chief finance officer for the district, told a legislative budget subcommittee that some class sizes would probably increase by eight students and the average starting salary of teachers would fall $3,500 from the present $35,000.
There would be a potential layoff of 2,500 teachers and 700 support personnel, Weiler estimated.
They and other school officials testified that teachers would leave the state's school districts, classes would have to be cut and students might have to pay for taking part in arts and athletic programs.
Sandoval has proposed reducing the average support per student from the current $5,192 to $4,918 in each of the coming school years. The governor is recommending that teachers take a 5 percent cut in salary and pay more into the public employees' retirement system.
Heath Morrison, superintendent of the Washoe County School District, told the committee the governor’s budget would mean a reduction of $6,000 in the $51,829 average pay of teachers in Nevada.
Morrison said the proposed budget would mean a $1.1 billion hit to public schools in Nevada.
Sandoval’s budget calls for taking $425 million from school districts in their bond reserve funds to put into operations. Of that, $300 million would come from Clark County.
Weiler said the Clark County School District would be out of money by 2013 to pay its construction bonds under the proposal. He said it would require either a tax increase or extending the life of bonds, which would mean higher interest rates in the future.
Edwards said extending the time to pay off the current bonds “would eliminate our ability to go out for another bond," adding that the district needs $4.9 billion to refurbish its older schools.
Edwards said the district would be in "significant jeopardy" if this proposal is approved by the Legislature.
Heidi Gansert, chief of staff for Sandoval, said $425 million could be tapped from the reserve funds of the school district. She told the committee the money could be put into operations of the schools and not kept in a “piggy bank.”
School districts must keep a reserve to cover one year of bond payments in cases of financial distress. The governor wants to lower the amount of money required to be kept in reserve.
Assemblywoman Debbie Smith, chairwoman of the subcommittee, said legislative staff has estimated that $99 million is available from the districts, not $425 million.
Weiler also told the subcommittee that the bond rating of the Clark County School District has been lowered to AA- by Fitch’s Rating and Moody’s Rating. He said this was due to a variety of reasons and not just the suggestion of the governor to take $300 million out of the bond reserve.
The subcommittee did not take any action.
CORRECTION: The name of the Washoe County schools superintendent is Heath Morrison, not Keith Morrison. | (February 24, 2011)
slick greasy brian sandoval...
a phony smiling big toothed huckster...
who favors mining over innocent children...
mining companies that destroy the land and ship profits out of state and out of country...
over the innocent children of the state he serves...
what a frickin fraud...
slick greasy brian sandoval...
suupports prostitution...
but wants to harm children...
slick greasy brian sandoval is a FRAUD!!!
Class size increase..so what! The only thing Nevada students need to learn is "cocktails..cocktails" or the even more important "do you want fries with that?"
FRM...
That's exactly the attitude that the kids pick up on and gives them the green light to blow off their
responsibilities to themselves and the society in which they participate...
Low expectations lead to low outcomes.
That's why parental involvement is so KEY to the success of our kids.
If we're gonna turn this thing around, expectations
have got to be raised significantly, particularly in the minority communities.
This guy is a frickin joke except nobody's laughing. How bout getting back all the ill-gotten OT from the firemen? Think that money might help the State? You betcha! And what happened to no new taxes? How come they want to talk about raising PROPERTY taxes which, of course, affects the average joe??? Why is it always the average joe who has to bear the brunt? This is getting beyond ridiculous - and to the point where many people feel that government is so far beyond our control that we throw our hands up in defeat? Does the little guy REALLY stand a chance anymore?? NOPE!
FRM is exactly right, I would go even another step. The trouble with youngsters today is that their are to smart, the schools should be boarded up, turned into fast food joints and whore houses.
You got to be kidding me.. The names and addresses of people who voted for this "governor" should be made available to the general public. In my day people voted in the open and there was no secrecy. Then again NEVADA is the stupidest state in the country I founded. What else is new.
"The trouble with youngsters today is that their are to smart"
Such irony here, it's laughable!
Cleary HackDelahunts was educated by union first teachers and school districts.
2,500 teachers and 700 support staff? I'm kind of wondering if that's the support staff that works on the shining new Flamingo Road office there? Or maybe over there on Pecos? Or what about the big complex over on the South side of Flamingo? These folks should be achieving a spot in the Guinness Book of World Records for having the world's biggest educational jockstrap.
I'd say lay off 2,500 support personnel and 700 teachers. Let's get real. Two plus two still equals four. Matter is still neither created or destroyed. Mass still equals density multiplied by volume. Why do we need so many support staff when the basics of education haven't changed in a hundred years?
Show me a scintilla of reputable evidence that increasing per pupil spending translates into better results.
We have less money than in the past, so of course there are cut backs. Get over it.
@Noindex:
Who is Cleary HackDelahunts?
Now that's ironic!
Actually Noindex stems from a missing index finger.
The future doesn't look too bright for Nevada. At least this will lessen the burden of the looming water shortage in Southern Nevada...that is assuming that these people can get out of their houses and find jobs elsewhere. Hey at least the DMV will be less crowded.
Geez, over the last several years a kid who attended a comprehensive High School in CCSD had a 1 in 3 chance of passing proficiencies and graduating. I wonder what it will be like in the next 2 years? If a kid does happen to graduate the only options for higher ed in Nevada will be private for profit higher ed institutions such as Phoenix and NOVA.
The only people NSHE will be left with is the ones who are 2-3 years out from retirement and the complete duds who cant find jobs elsewhere.
Sadly, the teachers who get hammered at CCSD are the new ones who are at the bottom of the pay scale...so they have to get rid of more energetic young teachers while the ones with seniority and bigger paychecks get to stay.
Lay them off. Looking at the graduation rates it is obvious they are not doing their job!
They interviewed people that would be affected, included one comment from the Sandoval cabinet, and quoted a democratic assemblywoman. How is that balanced reporting?
Based on what I know about those bonds, their primary purpose was new school construction. We have a shrinking population, so it seems that it's no longer a priority. If it's legal to do so, I don't think it's that big of a deal to redirect those funds.
Property values have plummeted, other taxable receipts are down, and Sandoval hasn't shown any interest in collecting a fair amount from the booming mining industry. Even if he did, it would be a few years before the constitution was amended and we started to see the results.
Of course we have to make serious cuts. Blame it on whoever you'd like, but the reality is that we're a one-industry state, and that industry has suffered for quite a while. We also had too many people buy way too much of a house, driving up prices, and now they're rightfully not able to qualify for loans as easily, so there's a surplus of homes on the market. Add the fact that, for some reason, we're still allowing homebuilders to build new homes, and you see what we're dealing with.
Sorry guys, I know you want to blame everything on Sandoval, but there are a lot of factors at play here. I disagree with the mining thing as much as anyone else, but that's not the only problem we have.
The Governor wants to take money put away to PAY BACK the bonds and use it to run the schools.
Where is the money going to come from to pay back the Bonds?
You guessed it, higher property taxes.
He promised HE WOULD NOT RAISE TAXES but did not promise that he would not make others raise taxes by his lack of being honest about his budget.
"Weiler said ...it would require a tax increase or extending the life of the bonds..."
When the voters approved these bonds, they also voted the tax increase to pay them. Those taxes should go only to paying the bonds, and nothing else. Stealing the money for another purpose is just that: THEFT.
2 words "mandatory furlough," or "5% cut." it doesnt actually solve anything but if state workers have to take it, why shouldnt the teachers?
I think Nevada needs to rethink the way it educates its children, but I think the state and local governments in Nevada are using the schools to misdirect everyone's focus from where the big problem is, and that is the mismanagement of already available funds on every level.
The fire department contract fiasco is the most obvious, but there are other not so glaring issues that are symptomatic of how tax money is squandered.
It was reported yesterday that new curb cuts at bus stops are being installed in order to prevent accidents. I think it makes sense, but not at two hundred thousand dollars each. I'm not a contractor, but I think they should be able to be built for twenty thousand. What makes them more expensive than a long residential driveway by one hundred and eighty thousand dollars?
Isn't it rather interesting that Governor Sandoval is content to take the money VOTERS dedicated for the needed care of school buildings and then pile on the responsibility for balancing budgets on the local level? Yeah, take local monies, then say, deal with your problems! This taking of CCSD's building bond money to cure Nevada's budget is pure thievery and deceition.
So why did CCSD fritter away the stimulus funding? SUPPORT THE GOVERNOR'S BUDGET. Stop the whining and crying and come up with solutions--to school issues and to our ongoing budget crisis. We cannot afford Class Size Reduction of 16 students per teacher, and many of the students illegals stealing social welfare benefits--not supporting the budget in any way. 8 more students, or 24 per elementary class room sounds too good to be true. If a teacher cannot handle 24 students, s/he shouldn't be in the class room. It's going to be a long time before we need all those class rooms--the feds HAVE QUIETLY INCREASED DEPORTATION--hope the feds GET THIS DEPORTATION ROLLING IN NEVADA SOON, before we have to shut down all the schools. Education is good but not at the cost of food, shelter, our obligation to American elderly. SUPPORTING ILLEGAL ANCHOR BABIES AT THE COST OF OUR BASIC WAY OF LIFE.....
I think the kids can't pass proficiency tests because - plain and simple - they don't study. A teacher can TEACH till they're blue in the face but if the kids don't STUDY not much will sink in -- certainly not enough for them to pass any kind of a proficiency test. Blame the parents for their lack of involvement - that's where it starts. Actually it starts from the moment the kid gets dressed for school - the boys with their pants below their boxer shorts aspiring to become wanna be gang bangers and the girls with their chests half (or more) exposed - they aspire to be sluts. Where are the parents when the kids are walking out the door dressed like this? It starts at home and even Socrates couldn't turn these little darlings into a smart person.
I'd suggest the Gov offer $5.5K per student provided all involved agree that it come in the form of student vouchers good at any public, private or charter school that agrees to annual standardized testing and meets independent academic accreditation & safety standards (each school sets it's own teacher credentialling, work & pay standards). What we're doing now isn't working, be it at the current funding level or the proposed reduced one, and change is imperative!
Get the illegals out of the classrooms now! That will offset the decrease in teachers that will surely take place. The public unions around the state and coutry have shown they will suffer many layoffs before salary cuts will be agreed to.
Country not "coutry." DOH!
roseanrose: Quit lying. Class size reduction is a joke. Sure, there's a law, but it isn't being followed. My classes were ALWAYS higher than the number stated by law...ALWAYS. It's apparent that you don't actually care about the truth and would prefer to keep spouting your talking points...even if they are wrong. That's pathetic.
notachance:
The Supreme Court has ruled that all children must be provided an education, K-12, regardless of their immigration status.
Let's see, our school funding is paid by the property taxes that our citizens are paying.
Undocumented aliens don't pay property taxes.
Parents who are undocumented aliens don't pay a penny for their childrens' education.
So why do we have to pay more every year for our schools?
There has been a drop of American students in our school system because American families have gotten smaller, and some are now going to private schools.
If the presence of American students have been getting less, why do we have to pay more for schools every year?
Again, parents who are undocumented aliens do not have to pay a penny for their childrens' education.
Doesn't this upset you? or do you care?
Let's do a Rhode Island or a Michigan. Fire them all and rehire teachers at ENTRY LEVEL SALARIES for classes of 60 students.
Barrett: ILLEGAL DADS work in our casino kitchens while American 99ers are abandoned and homeless. ILLEGAL MOMS get MEDICAID AND TANF for the ILLEGAL ANCHOR BABIES. The "undocumented" don't pay taxes and they ILLEGALLY CLAIM REFUNDS AFTER THEY STEAL YOUR IDENTITY/SSN AND CLAIM TO BE AMERICANS with earned income credit, child tax credit, child care credits..... MUCH CHEAPER TO HUNT EM DOWN AND DEPORT. We also need fraud investigators for TANF, Medicaid, local housing support, every freeby that's out there.
roseanrose, good post. Why aren't the citizens more upset and doing something about this?This has been going on for years and for some reason somehow ICE has no idea what is going on here. Hah! I've called them for years. Someone is powerful enough to keep ICE away. Harry Reid? no, he hasn't been aware for years that we even have illegals in Nevada. Who then?
rose and rose, I hope you were kidding about firing them all. Let's not emulate Reagan and fire them all. Every worker has a right to stand up for his/her collective bargaining for their work/job.. If we start taking away people rights we are worse than Hitler, etc.