NSEA Legislative Positions and Talking Points
SB 544 - Retirement Bill
Makes various changes relating to the Public Employees' Benefits Program.
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SB 416-Reversion Bill Rainy Day Fund
An interesting phenomenon exists in our state when it comes to education funding. The Distributive School Account—more commonly referred to as the DSA—is funded by sales tax, property tax, and the general fund. The general fund appropriation kicks in when the sales and property taxes do not generate sufficient revenue to cover the DSA appropriations. On the other hand, when revenue exceeds the projections, the general fund appropriation goes away and education does not get to partake in the good financial times.
Lottery Bill - AJR 5
Here is what passage of the Lottery Bill-- AJR 5--guarantees:
- It will raise approximately $50 million.
- All money will go toward:
- Instructional materials and instructional supplies, including textbooks, instructional software and other multimedia instructional materials and supplies;
- Equipment relating to instruction, including computers and other multimedia hardware; and
- Equipment used primarily for the maintenance or operation of the equipment relating to instruction.
- The money will supplement, not supplant, existing revenues for these areas.
AB 280
This bill that would appropriate $30 million for incentives to be bargained at the local level.
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1/5 Service Credit
The 1/5 service credit allows teachers working in at-risk schools, in schools not making adequate yearly progress, or in hard-to-fill subject areas to earn 1.2 years of retirement for each year worked. More than 6,000 of Nevada’s teachers received the 1/5 service credit last year.
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Education Budget—Distributive School Account
The Nevada State Education Association has many concerns with Governor Gibbons’ proposed Distributive School Account (DSA)--the school budget and we have no intentions of accepting the Governor’s recommendations as is.
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Full-Day Kindergarten
The Nevada State Education Association supports full-day kindergarten for all of Nevada’s children; it is a strong and effective foundation upon which a quality education should be built.
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Public Employees Retirement System
The Public Employee Retirement System (PERS) is currently a defined benefit program—a retired public employee is guaranteed a monthly retirement system based upon the number of years of service and the highest three years of salary. There are proposals to change PERS from a defined benefit system to a defined contribution system.
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ACR 10--Adequacy Study
The Nevada State Education Association supports the Adequacy Study and its results. The goal of the study was to determine the level of funding that was needed for Nevada’s children to reach specific performance expectations by the 2013-14 school year.
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Empowerment Schools
Governor Gibbons has proposed eliminating the 1/5 service credit incentive and putting the money into an empowerment school pilot program. The program would cost $60 million--$45 million for implementation and $15 million for merit pay—and would empower only 100 schools statewide.
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Merit Pay vs. Enhanced Compensation
The Nevada State Education Association opposes merit pay—bonuses given to teachers based upon subjective measures.
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