Session Summary: The Struggle Continues
NSEA scored our biggest win before the end of the session with the passage of our PERS equity bill (Support AB232). NSEA had been engaged in the fight for fairness in PERS accrual for education support professionals for many years. AB232 was our latest effort to correct an inequity that exists for our education support professionals, allowing ESPs to receive a full year of PERS service credit for working at least 900 hours of the school year.
NSEA also ended the session on a high note, defeating the largest-ever proposed corporate handout (Oppose AB238) in the Senate. For 120 days, educators and advocates stood united with one resounding message for Nevada lawmakers: Schools Over Studios. It was the storyline our students deserved, a script grounded in better priorities, not backlot fantasies. NSEA members were the strongest voices against the Hollywood handout, making sure decision-makers understood every dollar spent on one of this fiscally reckless project was a dollar we wouldn’t see in our schools. Thanks to our members’ unwavering advocacy, this corporate giveaway was defeated, saving Nevada taxpayers $1.65 billion.
NSEA had mixed success engaging late education bills from the Governor and legislative leaders. The Speaker’s bill (Amend AB398) passed out of the legislature without including education support professionals in pay enhancements for hard-to-fill positions. However, the bill does make an additional $90M available for teacher bargaining units during negotiations.
The Governor’s faulty Education Accountability Act (Oppose AB584 - Blame Without a Budget) was killed and with it went some of its worst components. This includes a proposal to extend private school vouchers to students in public schools with poor test scores as well as a proposal to convert neighborhood public schools into charters. However, several of its provisions were rolled into the Senate Majority Leader’s omnibus education bill (Oppose SB460). The final product was a mix of good and bad. NSEA strongly supported SB460’s original expansion of Pre-K opportunities for the entire state but were disappointed when these funds were removed in the bill. Similarly, greater controls for charter schools required in SB460 were watered down. Other good sections of the bill include legal protections for educators intervening in school fights, ensuring schools have a school counselor and counseling services, more transparency related to private school vouchers, and an enforcement mechanism against over-testing and teaching to the test. However, several other provisions in the bill were problematic. The performance accountability mechanism in the bill will set up schools with high concentrations of poverty up for failure by threatening probation, state takeover, and replacement of staff if they don’t meet performance benchmarks. Also, NSEA continues to be concerned about granting voting rights to appointed members of the board in Clark County.
Finally, despite our loud and persistent calls for real investments in public education, both the Legislature and the Governor failed to Pass the Plan. Instead, their decision to allocate just $2 in new base funding per student, while not advancing any new revenue measures, was not just disappointing, it was damaging. However, we did win a continuation of the one-time SB231 monies passed in 2023, meaning educator pay won’t be reduced. NSEA has been in the fight for adequate education funding for decades, and we look forward to meaningful conversations about revenue in the future. The struggle continues.
Session Highlights
NSEA engaged many bills and budgets this session, tracking 166 bills, submitting 98 written comments, and testifying on many more. NSEA supported 58 bills and took an amend or oppose position on 35. Of the bills NSEA supported, 22 passed into law with 5 outstanding vetoes. Of the bills NSEA took an oppose or amend position, just 8 were passed into law (4 amend, 4 oppose) with one outstanding veto. (Vetoes are unlikely to be overridden unless Democrats take supermajorities in both houses.)
Legislative Wins: Priorities Passed
- AB224 makes available $100M in bond funds for Nevada’s rural school districts to address capital needs. (Support AB224)
- AB232 ensured equity in the accrual of PERS service credit for education support professionals. (Support AB232)
- SB418 creates a mechanism by which PERS can collect delinquent contribution payments from charter schools. (Support SB418)
- Continuation of SB231 (2023) monies for educator raises. (SB500)
Legislative Wins: Bad Bills Blocked
- AB238 and SB220 would have each extended over $1.5B in tax credits to underwrite the development of film studios in Las Vegas, diverting funds from public education. (Oppose AB238) (Oppose SB220)
- AB435 would have authorized school districts to enact a property tax to fund charter school facilities. (Oppose AB435)
- AB584 was the Governor’s Education Accountability Act. Notably, AB584 failed to address chronic underfunding, educator shortages, large class sizes, and lack of student supports (Oppose AB584 - Blame Without a Budget)
- SB78 would have watered down educator voice on important boards and commissions. (Oppose SB78)
- SB269 would have created a $4M tax credit voucher program for medical residencies. (Oppose SB269)
- Dozens of other bad bills were killed without a hearing. These include bills to expand private school vouchers, make educator bargaining subject to open meeting laws, target educators for “grooming”, create a department of charter schools, and depress voter turnout with voter ID requirements.
Legislative Losses: Bad Bills Passed
- AB236 removes NSEA as the named nominating authority for educator positions on various boards and councils. (Oppose AB236)
- SB161 changes the procedures for binding arbitration for teachers and changes the definition of strike just for teachers. (Oppose SB161)
- SB500 was the education budget bill that included just a $2 per pupil increase in base funding for next school year, making contract negotiations very difficult this summer. (Oppose SB500)
Legislative Losses: Good Bills Blocked
- AJR1 proposed amending the Constitution to address depreciation in the calculation of property tax which was part of Pass the Plan. (Support AJR1)
- AB155 would have added class size to the mandatory subjects of bargaining. It was vetoed. (Support AB155)
- AB268 would have made an appropriation to ensure universal free meals for Nevada students. (Support AB268)
- AB453 would have applied a tax on the sale of digital products which was part of Pass the Plan. (Support AB453)
- SB318 would have effectively addressed the for-profit components of Nevada’s charter school industry, including phasing out education management organizations. (Support SB318)
Local Advocacy Days & NSEA Ambassadors
NSEA partnered with the National Education Association to further amplify our members’ voices through our Local Advocacy Days, NSEA Ambassadors, and Republican Educators. Local Advocacy Days was a new effort to give every NSEA local the opportunity to lobby in person at the Legislature. During the session, members of the Washoe Education Association were a regular fixture in the building and at public comment. Members representing the following locals also came to Carson City to lobby: Carson Education Support Association, Education Support Employees Association, Humboldt County Support Staff Organization, Humbolt County Education Association, Lander County Classroom Teachers Association, Lincoln County Education Association, Lyon County Education Association, Mineral County Classroom Teachers Association, NEA of Southern Nevada, NSEA Aspiring Educators, NSEA Retired, Ormsby County Education Association, and Pershing County Support Staff Organization.
NSEA Ambassadors was comprised of 30 member activists who met weekly, engaged in lobbying, made public comment, wrote op-eds and letters to the editor, and were active on social media. Ambassadors focused on NSEA’s Pass the Plan and Schools Over Studios campaigns. Working with our community partner Battleborn Progress, several Ambassadors were able to successfully place op-eds to promote our efforts.
- The cost of overcrowded classrooms and why Nevada must ‘Pass the Plan’
- Now’s the moment to bring Nevada up to the national average in per-pupil funds
- It’s death by a thousand cuts for Nevada’s education system
- Nevada’s future depends on fully funding our schools
- Hail the corporate handouts!
- Teaching in Nevada: A front-row seat to our decline
- Nevada’s budget has an umbrella. So why are we standing in the rain?
While NSEA is non-partisan, we worked over the last two years to develop Republic Educators representing the 3500 Republican educators across Nevada who are also NSEA members. Republican Educators is led by longtime members of the Republican Party who advocated for a distinct voice for Republican members within our union. During their lobby day, Republican Educators met with 8 key Republican legislators to provide a different, pro-public education vision to our advocacy.
Finally, NSEA members, working with our vendor Telegraph, created 5 videos calling on legislators to Pass the Plan that ran during the last half of the session. We also ran online ads and an aggressive earned media campaign that saw NSEA heavy in Las Vegas and Reno press just about every week of the session.
That's a Wrap
The 83rd Legislative Session brought a mix of hard-fought victories and frustrating setbacks for Nevada’s educators. We secured meaningful wins, like equity for our education support professionals, continued funding to sustain educator pay raises, and the defeat of the largest corporate giveaway in state history. However, critical opportunities to truly invest in our students and schools were once again missed. Despite tireless member advocacy and clear calls to Pass the Plan, state leaders ultimately chose to allocate just $2 per student in new base funding, leaving Nevada’s chronic underfunding unresolved for yet another biennium. In the end, this session will rightly be remembered as “The $2 Session”. It will serve as a stark reminder that our fight for real, sustained investments in Nevada’s public schools must and will continue.
