Washoe Country School District

November 20, 2008

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Legislative Update

Legislative Update

Below is a summary of the legislation passed by the 2007 Nevada Legislature that will have an impact on Nevada schools and Washoe County schools in particular.

2007 Legislative Session

iNVest: Investing in Nevada's Education, Students and Teachers


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iNVest ‘07 Summary

Investing in Nevada 's Education, Students and Teachers

 

A Funding and Accountability Proposal

Nevada Association of School Boards

Nevada Association of School Superintendents

 

 

Three Tenets of iNVest ‘07:

  • Districts must have adequate basic support;
  • Districts must have the capacity to attract and retain a quality work force;
  • Districts must have the means to increase instructional time and expand educational opportunities.

 

Twelve Initiatives of iNVest '07:

 

Initiative 1: Include Annual Inflation in the DSA

Since school boards cannot create or increase revenue streams, resources for public education provided by the state must be realistic in terms of funding expenses. Adequate and appropriate inflation cost adjustments, based on the best information available, must be built into expenditure calculations for non-salary and benefit accounts in the construction of the biennial distributive school fund budget and calculations of state basic support.

Initiative 2: Continue Augmented Funding for Books, Educational Supplies, and Equipment

In 2003 and again in 2005, the Nevada State Legislature provided a $50 per student textbook allocation in a designated fund. That allocation has helped districts meet the ongoing challenge of keeping pace with the never-ending need to supply up-to-date textbooks, classroom supplies, and equipment necessary for Nevada 's students. Since the cost of textbooks, instructional supplies, and instructional equipment continues to increase, the continuation of this funding is requested.

 

Initiative 3: Protect Ending Fund Balance

Districts believe it is imperative to statutorily protect pre-determined budgeted or actual unreserved ending fund balances from consideration in a district's ability to pay in labor negotiations and arbitration. This initiative envisions that the school boards of each district be given the authority to establish an unreserved ending fund balance not to exceed 8.3%, which then would statutorily be protected from salary negotiations and arbitration proceedings. This will allow school districts to maintain adequate ending fund balances. This is critical for fiscal responsibility and bonding capacity.

 

Initiative 4: Salary Increased for Educational Personnel

Adequate compensation is a critical element in hiring teachers. If we are to make significant progress in educating our youth, we must provide starting salaries and salary increases that enable school districts to attract and retain highly qualified educational personnel who are not penalized by salaries that too often fail to keep pace with increases in the cost of living. iNVest '05 called for a 3% raise in teacher salaries. The updated 2007 version called for 5% increases, as a 3% increase in salaries is not enough to keep pace with the cost of living, let alone represent an attractive wage to college graduates who have other employment opportunities with higher compensation available to them.

 

Initiative 5: Health Benefits

Adequate funding must be provided to pay for reasonable health benefits for both active and retired employees. Districts seek legislative action that would require the education budget be constructed with health benefit funding that keeps pace with the cost of medical services in the State of Nevada . It is also critical that the Legislature fund the full cost of retiree subsidies required by AB286 of the 2003 legislative session. Since school districts have no ability to generate funding for these costs over which they have no control, these obligations reduce the districts' resources needed to deliver student instruction.

 

Initiative 6: Incentives for Licensed Educational Personnel

This initiative deals with three types of incentives: signing bonuses for new teachers; incentives to attract effective, highly qualified teachers to schools deemed "In Need of Improvement;" and incentives to attract highly qualified teachers in critical shortage areas such as math, science, special education, and ELL. It is proposed that the Legislature continue to fund initial signing bonuses for new teachers, increasing the amount from $2,000 to $2,500 and to provide incentives for teachers in the most challenging classrooms and for teachers in critical shortage areas by redirecting funds currently used to pay for retirement credits into Teacher Incentive Grants.

 

Initiative 7: Increased Achievement for All Students

In accordance with the goals of NCLB, it is imperative that additional time and opportunity to learn be provided for students who must demonstrate that they can achieve the annual content area targets established for them by the AYP model. As performance levels required for each child continue to be raised incrementally until all students are expected to perform at grade level in 2013, the more significant the effort required to have all students meet the standards. Educators and parents believe all children can learn but recognize that not all students learn in the same way or at the same speed. This means schools must be prepared to offer additional time and opportunities for students who have fallen behind. Last session, SB404 funds provided $78 million for grants to elementary schools and nearly $14 million for secondary schools. The Legislature is encouraged to continue this augmented funding. On-going funding, rather than "one-shot" dollars would allow districts to design and plan specific intervention programs to improvement student achievement by providing additional learning opportunities tailored to the needs of the students in each district.

 

Initiative 8: Funding for English Language Learners

Nevada is one of the fastest-growing states in the nation and English Language Learners are the fastest-growing segment of our student population. As the growth of ELL enrollment continues to escalate, and the requirements of NCLB become more difficult to achieve for ELL students, districts are faced with the dilemma of continuing to pay for needed ELL services from the General Fund budget, at the expense of reducing other academic programs. Without dollars specifically appropriated for ELL students, services for these children lag far behind their needs. Districts are requesting that the Legislature establish a weighted per pupil funding for ELL students.

 

Initiative 9: Full-Day Kindergarten

School districts seek funding to continue full-day kindergarten programs for at-risk schools and to add funding to provide continued implementation of full-day kindergarten programs for all students. As a nation, we strive to increase early literacy skills and mitigate the impact of poverty and limited English proficiency on our children's learning. This is especially critical in the early years. If early literacy academic challenges are not met by the end of first grade, school districts not only find it difficult to close the achievement gap in later grades, but also face increasingly higher costs attempting to do so. One way to address early childhood literacy is to implement full-day kindergarten. A multi-year phased-in program is preferred to provide districts enough time to prepare the facilities needed and hire the additional teachers that will be required.

 

Initiative 10: Professional Development for Student Achievement

Currently NRS allows each school district to use not more than five days within the existing 180-day school year for the purposes of professional development. Although these days are essential, each day utilized by a district for professional development decreases the amount of instructional time for its students. It is proposed that five days be added to the contract of teachers to be used for professional development, ensuring that each student in Nevada receives 180 days of instruction. In effect, this would add five days to the students' school year, thereby increasing instructional time as well. Research clearly shows a link between teacher training and increased student achievement.

 

Initiative 11: Classroom Discipline and School Safety

Districts request additional funding to be used to implement effective classroom discipline programs. One of the most frustrating experiences for both the serious student and the teacher alike is a disruptive pupil who has no desire to participate in a successful learning environment. Classroom discipline is becoming one of the most serious challenges faced in public schools. Teachers who can spend their time teaching, as opposed to disciplining a few disruptive students, are more effective, and the classroom environment is safer, calmer, and more conducive to learning if disruptive students can be removed.

 

Initiative 12: Career & Technical Education

Nevada districts urge the Legislature to provide funds to support the additional cost of ensuring that Career and Technical Education programs meet industry standards as established by business and industry representatives serving on technical skills committees. The superintendents also concur with the recommendations of the Legislative Committee on Education's Subcommittee to Study the Effectiveness of Career and Technical High Schools . These recommendations include authorizing two or more school districts to form a compact to create a joint CTE high school, sharing facilities with the Nevada System of Higher Education, and establishing a fund for initiating, maintaining, or expanding CTE programs and advisory technical skills committees.