Teachers angry, tearful as threat of layoffs looms

Crying, her voice trembling, Clark County School District teacher Shannon Regin repeatedly apologized as she sobbed through her account of last week.

Unlike 30 other upset and angry teachers who spoke Thursday at a Clark County School Board meeting, she knows what her future holds if the district enacts a contingency plan to lay off 1,000 teachers midyear.

She heard it straight from her principal at Reedom Elementary School, near Durango Drive and Mountain's Edge Parkway. Regin went to her boss on Dec. 1 after learning that all principals were told to plan for teacher layoffs. Seniority probably would be a key factor in reducing staff.

"She told me the school would lose three teachers and I'd be one of them," said the second-grade teacher, who just graduated from college in June. "I go to work every day knowing I might not have a job anymore. I've only been doing this a few months, but I love it."

The cash-strapped district has said midyear layoffs may be needed to balance its budget if the Clark County Education Association refuses to grant teacher contract concessions that include freezing raises for experience and additional education for two years.

At Thursday's meeting, more than 100 education association members sat in the audience dressed in red.

Teacher contract negotiations weren't supposed to be such a consuming topic at the meeting, but it quickly stole the spotlight from the support staff union, the Education Support Employees Association, which represents bus drivers, custodians, cooks and more. That union reached a contract settlement with the district after nine meetings over nine months.

The School Board voted 5-0 to approve support staff's 2011-14 contract, in which the union agreed to concessions that will save the district $34.7 million.

Board member Deanna Wright abstained after disclosing her husband was a member of the support staff union. Board member John Cole was absent.

Support staff accepted a pay freeze but will continue to receive raises for seniority. The raises will be funded by the union's defunct health trust fund at a cost of $9.6 million in 2011-12 and $19.2 million in 2012-13. But that fund will run dry in June 2013.

If money isn't found somewhere else, the district has said all workers who received the raises would see their salaries cut back to June 2011 levels.

The support staff contract garnered no comment from the audience, not even a word from outspoken union President John Carr. However, Carr did stand and speak for teachers, wearing a red shirt to show unity with the Clark County Education Association members packed into the board room and spilling into the foyer at the Greer Education Center.

"I stand for teachers as well," he said. "If you don't let them do their jobs equitably, everybody will suffer, not just students."

School Board President Carolyn Edwards demanded silence from the rambunctious audience on several occasions, saying, "If you become disruptive, we'll have you removed."

Teachers, students and supporters told the district to negotiate with the teachers' union. But the district wasn't the party that called an end to talks, district spokeswoman Amanda Fulkerson said.

The Clark County Education Association declared an impasse after the minimum four meetings with the district's negotiation team and moved the process into arbitration, where a third party determines which contract proposal to choose.

"Now, there's no middle ground," she said. "That's the bottom line. If (the district) wins, no layoffs and a pay freeze. If the union wins, some get raises, and others get laid off."

There is more to it than that, said Ruben Murillo, president of the education association. The union doesn't want layoffs, he said, but won't take a pay freeze either. He didn't offer a compromise but suggested the district look to projections for local sales tax, which accounts for 30 percent of the district's budget. He said those taxes are expected to increase 20 percent next year.

But the district needs the concessions from teachers to fill a $39 million hole in its budget for a school year that is now half over, Fulkerson said. "We're required by law to present a balanced budget to the Legislature."

Contact reporter Trevon Milliard at tmilliard@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279.

Trending topics:

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Comments

Note: Comments made by reporters and editors of the Las Vegas Review-Journal are presented with a yellow background.

1. Sunny Dec. 14, 2011 | 2:46 p.m. Report Abuse

   Cry me a river. CCSD should be broken up into smaller pieces and parents should be urged to get their children out of Nevada schools in the interim. Move along, no teaching going on here.

2. mrnoitall Dec. 12, 2011 | 11:34 p.m. Report Abuse

   @n7v. Man, what planet are you from? You just got to be the most unhappy person in the world. Is all this crazy stuff you post what defines you as a person? Are you building bombs in your basement? You seem to hate everybody. Dude, you are depressing!

3. TankerUSMA1975 Dec. 10, 2011 | 8:43 p.m. Report Abuse

   @n7v. What is the differnce between "taxable" earned income and "salary"? The amount of tax that you pay is based on what is reported to the IRS on your W2, not some imaginary number made up becuse you think you compute it differently. If the IRS gets a cut of gambling winnings, how do you think that nothing else is reportable? If I get extra pay for training, teaching extra classes, that is reported and reflected in my "earned income" reported to the IRS.

4. n7v.blogspot.com Dec. 10, 2011 | 11:57 a.m. Report Abuse

   When I hear public school teachers ("association" members) complain that they only make X they need to be exposed for using statistics in place of logic. And TTYTT, I have very little sympathy for them.
   
   Public education employees are just like every other public employee, which is to say, they milk us DRY.
   
   NOBODY cares how much private school teachers make, or any of the other circumstances public school teachers whine about on an almost daily basis.
   
   Few things in this debate irritate me more than the "association's" position that holding an advanced degree somehow makes a teacher more worthy of higher pay. That is such a load of BULL and is typical of government-dominated "professions".

5. gbigs Dec. 10, 2011 | 10:30 a.m. Report Abuse

   we will wait...when all public school kids join Obamas food lines, and jobless lines. then proud democrat can answer for it.

6. Jasper Dec. 10, 2011 | 10:20 a.m. Report Abuse

   To 266.h: It's not a question on whether the RJ does reasearch, but what point of view they chose to present.

7. jimmer Dec. 10, 2011 | 9:58 a.m. Report Abuse

   per diem, low interest loans and so forth? um, I have been with the district for 18 years. what you see on my w2 is what I get. wish I had access to a jet or apartment. maybe the sahara palace administrators and lawyers have that perk but rank and file teachers? give me a break! I just want to be able to pay my bills and have a little left over for emergencies and a night out once or twice a year like any other middle class person.

8. Jerry S..Dickinson Dec. 10, 2011 | 9:56 a.m. Report Abuse

   n7v.blogspot. What the hell are you going on and on and on about? The crap you are citing isn't applicable. Teachers make a salary for a contracted year. S=cy very very simple. There are no hidden bonus' in teachers contracts. Any payment for services rendered received by a person is considered income for reporting purpose. The whole point is the administration of CCSD, Clark County and the state of Nevada have misrepresented the teachers for years. The constant claim that there is no money for teacher raises is only true in one context. To make the statement accurrate the following must be added. "There is no money for teacher raises because we have negoiated a massive contract with Firefighters and Policemen unions".

9. n7v.blogspot.com Dec. 10, 2011 | 9:42 a.m. Report Abuse

   What's reported on your W-2 is your *taxable*, earned income, not your "salary". I'm no expert on IRS forms, but I believe that some kinds of compensation are NOT reported on W-2/1099, etc. For example, per diem, low-interest loans, and so forth.
   
   The point is that for purposes of these discussions, when we're talking about how much teachers get paid, a raw number like $45,000 is almost *meaningless* outside of a unit-time context.
   
   Exactly which time frame we reference is not nearly as important as standarding on one.
   
   If you want to use W-2 reported earnings, then that means the CEO who gets paid $1/y but has unrestricted access to his corp's fleet of jets and its apartment on Central Park West is making a LOT less than a CCSD teacher.
   
   The "per year" convention is as good as any other. That's per 365 days; I believe the business "year" is rounded to 360 days.
   
   Anyway, teachers work ~180 d/y. Their "annual" salaries are DOUBLE the published figure.
   
   NFL players work ~150 d/y (playoffs extra). Their annual salaries are 12/5 of the published figure. And so forth.

10. 266.h Dec. 10, 2011 | 8:56 a.m. Report Abuse

    @ TankerUSMA1975 very well said and reported. I think you do better research and reporting than the RJ.

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