Las Vegas Sun

March 28, 2024

State politics:

Horsford: Legislature won’t support governor’s education plan

State Senate majority leader says governor’s education proposals a ‘non-starter’

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Steven Horsford

Gov. Jim Gibbons

Gov. Jim Gibbons

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State Senate Majority Leader Steven Horsford said the Legislature wouldn't pass Gov. Jim Gibbons' proposed education reforms, predicting the Republican governor's proposals would lead to larger class sizes and layoffs of teachers in a speech he delivered to the Nevada Association of School Superintendents this afternoon.

"I can tell you that the majority party in the Nevada Senate and the Nevada Assembly will not agree to what the governor is trying to do – which is to balance our budget crisis on the backs of children, and in particular young children," Horsford said, according to a copy of the prepared remarks he delivered at the South Point. "That is absolutely unacceptable."

He called Gibbons' proposals a "non-starter."

Gibbons announced a slew of conservative education reforms earlier this week, receiving praise from many conservatives and gasps from union officials, the Nevada Parent Teacher Association and Democrats. While Gibbons and his staff insisted the proposals would lead to more local control of the education system, Gibbons also said it would save the state between $30 million and $100 million.

Horsford said, "In real terms, it has already been estimated this could mean layoffs for 2,000 teachers statewide, and more than 100,000 students in kindergarten through third-grade pushed together in larger classes. That is the reality the governor is not talking about. Fewer teachers, larger class sizes."

Gibbons' Republican primary opponent, Brian Sandoval, also suggested Wednesday that Gibbons' plan would result in teacher layoffs. Gibbons' campaign sent out a news release Friday morning attacking that suggestion, calling his statement "untrue and uninformed."

"Governor Gibbons never suggested laying off teachers," the statement said. It also challenged Sandoval to present his own ideas.

“Perhaps there will be teacher layoffs in Sandoval’s education plan for Nevada,” according to the press release. “But we can’t be sure until Sandoval comes up with a plan for education in Nevada, or a plan for any other issue in Nevada for that matter.”

Gibbons' proposals also included eliminating collective bargaining rights for teachers and other local government employees, and issuing a statewide voucher program, both of which are conservative education reform priorities.

On the fiscal side, Gibbons proposed eliminating the class-size reduction fund, which has $144 million a year. That is designed to lower student-teacher ratios in the first, second and third grades. Gibbons also proposed eliminating the fund that pays for all-day kindergarten, which has $25 million a year.

Gibbons said some of that money would be returned to school districts, to use how they deem it appropriate. But some money would be kept by the state to deal with the state's growing fiscal problems. Gibbons, in prior budget cutting rounds, had sought to spare the K-12 system, but said the fiscal problems had grown so big they had to share in the cuts.

Horsford last session clashed with the teacher's union, proposing reforms that included teacher accountability, pay-for performance and an overhaul of the state Board of Education.

Still, Horsford today made no suggestion of his past tension with the teacher's union or education establishment.

Horsford didn't offer any suggestions on how the Legislature will deal with the current budget gap. Since July, tax revenues have been $72 million below projections.

Instead, Horsford said, "There are other ways to deal with Nevada’s budget shortfall, and they will become clearer in the next few weeks, after the Economic Forum releases its numbers on the state’s revenue shortfall." He said, "legislators will have appropriate measures to get us through this fiscal year and the biennium, without crushing our education system."

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