Buckley doubts Gibbons’ proposed pay cuts will pass

Assembly Speaker Barbara Buckley offered a prediction this week that might interest the state’s educators: She “suspects” the Legislature won’t agree to the proposed 6 percent cuts to teacher pay.

Buckley, known for her control over her caucus, made the remark during a Senate Finance and Assembly Ways and Means committee hearing to examine the public school budget.

“I would suspect that in K through 12, that the Legislature will say we can’t close down the (teacher) training centers, we can’t end all incentive programs, we can’t cut teachers by 6 percent,” she said.

Gov. Jim Gibbons included the teacher pay cuts, as well as cuts to state workers’ pay, in his budget to address the state’s growing shortfall.

Much of the committees’ discussion centered on $324 million in federal stabilization funds.

The state is required to provide matching money but can ask for a waiver.

State Budget Director Andrew Clinger said the state will submit a request for a waiver on the matching funding.

Buckley said the subcommittees will start building budgets by the end of the month and need to know whether the state is going to get the federal money.

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An after-school program at 15 at-risk schools in Clark County has produced higher reading and math scores for its 6,000 participants, lawmakers were told Wednesday.

The Greater Las Vegas After-School All Stars, which received $709,000 from the 2007 Legislature, is seeking an increase in funding to $1 million. The state’s appropriation has made up about 30 percent of the annual budget with the rest coming from grants and donations.

Students in the program get extra academic instruction, go on field trips and attend ballets and sporting events. The program lasts three hours after school, with the first hour dedicated to academics.

Jacqueline Locks, executive director of the program, said a five-year analysis showed students advanced in both reading and math at schools with the program.

For example, students meeting standards at Cashman Middle School rose from 23 percent to 40 percent in math and from 21 percent to 42 percent in reading. At Bell Elementary School those meeting standards in math rose from 17 percent to 33 percent and from 13 percent to 33 percent in reading.

Students enrolled in the program made better progress than those who were not, Locks said.

Locks and Elaine Wynn, who is co-chairwoman of the program, urged the Assembly Ways and Means Committee to approve Assembly Bill 134.

The committee took no action.

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The Nevada Transportation Department is calling for bids today on the first state project to be financed by the federal stimulus.

The project, estimated at $14 million to $16 million, is to repave 13 miles of Interstate 80 in Pershing County. Construction is expected to begin in early June.

The state Transportation Board approved $201 million in projects to be paid for with the stimulus money, with 54 percent to be spent in Clark County.

The department said four more projects in Northern Nevada estimated to cost almost $40 million are expected to go out to bid in April.

Gibbons, chairman of the Transportation Board, said the Pershing County project and “others like it will spur growth in jobs and improve our infrastructure.”