For over 125 years, the Nevada State Education Association has been the voice of Nevada educators. NSEA represents licensed educators, education support professionals, aspiring educators, administrators, and retirees who believe every Nevada student deserves access to a high-quality public education. Nevada educators know what strong public schools require: sustained investment, respect for educators, safe learning environments, manageable workloads, and policies centered on students.
But across Nevada, districts are cutting positions, increasing workloads, reducing programs, and closing schools. With flat education funding, rising costs, and declining enrollment, educators and students are once again being asked to do more with less. Meanwhile, recent investments have produced measurable progress, but Nevada remains significantly below the national average in per-pupil spending and continues to face critical staffing and resource challenges. When schools cannot recruit and retain educators, students lose access to stable learning environments, individualized support, and educational opportunity.
Nevada cannot afford another session of half-measures.
The Commission on School Funding laid out a roadmap for stabilizing and improving Nevada’s public education system. Now the state must follow through with meaningful action and sustainable revenue. Heading into 2027, NSEA is calling on lawmakers to take public education seriously and deliver the investment Nevada students and educators deserve.
Nevada’s educator shortages, staffing cuts, and growing student needs are directly tied to the state’s long-term failure to adequately fund public education. As costs continue to rise, districts across the state are eliminating positions, scaling back student supports, and reducing opportunities for students.
Nevada cannot continue to approve large-scale corporate tax giveaways while public schools face staffing cuts, larger class sizes, and reduced student supports. NSEA has consistently opposed subsidy packages and tax abatements that divert resources away from public education, including through campaigns such as Schools Over Stadiums and Schools Over Studios, as well as opposition to excessive tax giveaways for data centers and other large corporations. Nevada students should come before corporate subsidies. Nevada must finally fund schools at the level students and communities actually need
NSEA SUPPORTS:
- Full implementation of the recommendations of the Commission on School Funding, including significant new revenue and modernization of Nevada’s tax structure
- Increased and equitable public education funding, including full funding for special education and students with the greatest needs
NSEA OPPOSES:
- Education privatization schemes, including private school vouchers and tax credit voucher programs
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Corporate tax giveaways that continue to come at the expense of Nevada’s public schools
Nevada’s educator shortage continues to impact classrooms across the state. Districts are struggling to fill positions, workloads continue to grow, and too many educators are leaving the profession because the job has become increasingly unsustainable. Nevada will not solve this crisis without making education a profession people can afford to enter and afford to stay in.
NSEA SUPPORTS:
- Competitive compensation, affordable healthcare, retirement security, and professional respect for all educators and education support professionals
- Inclusion of educator retention dollars (such as 2023 SB231 monies) in base per-pupil funding.
- Paid student teaching, educator residency pathways, grow-your-own programs, and other educator pipeline initiatives
- Recruitment and retention incentives for hard-to-fill positions and underserved communities, including special education
- Affordable housing, loan forgiveness, career advancement, and other policies that help educators remain in the profession long-term
NSEA OPPOSES:
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The chronic use of long-term substitute teachers to fill positions that should be staffed by certified educators.
Strong public schools depend on strong educator voices. Nevada educators deserve fair compensation, safe working conditions, secure retirement benefits, affordable healthcare, and the freedom to advocate collectively for students and public education. At a time when educators face growing political pressure, staffing shortages, and increasing workplace challenges, Nevada must protect the professional rights and dignity of public education employees.
NSEA SUPPORTS:
- Strong collective bargaining rights, due process protections, and organizing rights
- Protection and strengthening of Nevada PERS, retiree healthcare, and employee benefits
- Safe schools and workplaces, including protections related to violence, workplace injuries, and excessive workloads
- Manageable class sizes, caseloads, workloads, and staffing levels that allow educators to effectively support students
- Fair evaluation systems, adequate planning time, and educator voice in decisions impacting teaching and learning conditions
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Local control over healthcare bargaining decisions
Students learn best in safe, stable, and supportive learning environments. But students cannot succeed academically when schools lack the counselors, social workers, nurses, librarians, paraprofessionals, intervention professionals, behavioral specialists, and special education supports necessary to meet student needs. Public schools must be equipped to support the whole child and ensure every student has access to opportunity.
NSEA SUPPORTS:
- Increased staffing and supports for counselors, nurses, librarians, school psychologists, social workers, paraprofessionals, behavioral specialists, and other student support professionals
- Expanded mental health, behavioral, special education, and wraparound services for students and families
- Universal Pre-K, school meals, community schools, and expanded access to arts, music, libraries, CTE, and advanced coursework
- Adult, alternative, and correctional education opportunities.
- Strategies to reduce chronic absenteeism, including additional resources for parents and schools to address barriers to regular school attendance and accountability for parents and students.
- Policies and legislation that promote safe and supportive learning environments and provide effective interventions and appropriate educational settings for students with significant behavioral needs.
NSEA OPPOSES:
- Voucher programs, unregulated charter expansion, and for-profit charter school operators
- High-stakes testing and accountability systems that ignore student needs and resource inequities
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Immigration enforcement activity in schools that disrupts learning environments and undermines student safety and trust
Education support professionals are essential to student success and to the daily operation of Nevada’s public schools. ESPs build relationships with students, maintain safe and functional learning environments, and provide critical instructional and operational support in every school community. Nevada must ensure ESPs are respected, supported, and included in long-term workforce investments.
NSEA SUPPORTS:
- Fair wages, retirement security, healthcare access, and professional respect for education support professionals
- Full inclusion of ESPs in educator recruitment and retention initiatives
- Parity in bargaining rights for ESPs, including expedited bargaining processes
- Unemployment insurance protections, including summer eligibility
- Career advancement pathways, professional development, and safe working conditions for ESPs
NSEA OPPOSES:
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Contracting out and privatization of public sector jobs that undermine employee rights, job stability, and the quality of public service
Media Contact
- Alexander Marks
- [email protected]
- Phone 702-501-1486
