David Calvert / The Nevada Independent
Protesters rally against budget cuts to education outside the Nevada Legislature on the first day of the 31st Special Session in Carson City on Wednesday, July 8, 2020.
Friday, July 10, 2020 | 2 a.m.
CARSON CITY — Reno teacher Clinton Toledo pleaded with state lawmakers on Thursday, saying he’s tired of students being left behind “year after year after year.”
Toledo was speaking to the state Senate in the ongoing special session of the Nevada Legislature to address the $1.2 billion budget deficit caused by the coronavirus crisis. The proposal calls for $156 million in cuts to K-12 education, which would take funds earmarked for decreasing class sizes, reimbursing teachers for school supplies, providing literacy programs, and more.
“We need to continue the work we’ve done instead of backtracking again and again and again,” Toledo told lawmakers.
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Public education is already lacking in Nevada, which ranks 48th out of U.S. states in school financing, with an adjusted per-pupil expenditure of $8,960, according to the Education Week Quality Counts report card. And that was before the cuts.
Jim Frazee, the incoming vice president of the Clark County Education Association, said the cuts could increase class sizes, which would put kids at risk during the pandemic when social distancing is paramount.
Alexander Marks, a spokesperson for the Nevada State Education Association, said schools should have the same level of protection lawmakers have in the legislative building.
“The legislative building has been equipped with plexiglass, free and available hand sanitizer and masks, hands free faucets, top-of-the-line HVAC systems and enough room to keep 63 legislators safely distanced from each other,” Marks said. “Every school building should receive this type of care before reopening.”
Activists are calling for new revenue streams, including the Nevada State Education Association pushing for creating one new dollar of revenue per dollar removed from education funding.
The question of new revenue through a tax increase remains unanswered. Gov. Steve Sisolak has signaled he would follow the Legislature’s lead on new revenue, which drew the disdain of Frazee.
“When Gov. Sisolak says he will not lead on new revenue, what he’s really saying is he will not lead, period,” Frazee said.
Sisolak said he needed to be “realistic” about the chances of a tax increase being approved in the Senate, where Democrats are one lawmaker shy of the two-thirds supermajority needed to approve an increase. They would need to flip one Republican.
In the Assembly, Democrats have a two-thirds supermajority, and as such could pass a tax increase along party lines.
Assembly Speaker Jason Frierson, D-Las Vegas, said it’s clear lawmakers need bipartisan support for any tax increase.
“We have absolutely talked about revenue,” Frierson said. “We don’t know what necessarily is the best path forward. We’re confident that we’re going to protect hardworking Nevadans, and that’s not where the burden should lie.”
The top priority for teachers is keeping their students safe, said Selena La Rue, a Northern Nevada educator. She told the Senate that keeping children in larger groups enhances the risk of coronavirus transmission.
“We cannot cut these funds and keep our kids safe at the same time,” she said.
