Teachers may avoid layoffs under education budget bill

CARSON CITY -- With the Assembly's passage Saturday of a $2.2 billion two-year public education spending bill, Clark County schools might avoid laying off teachers or increasing class sizes, a top administrator said.

"This is very promising to us," said Clark County School District Associate Superintendent Joyce Haldeman. "It is a much more optimistic budget than we thought we were going to have."

However, 600 central office administrators and support staff jobs are expected to be eliminated, she said.

"We may not have to lay off many more than that," Haldeman said. "It's still a lot. In my office, I lost four positions. The reasons why those cuts are on the books is we are trying to keep the cuts away from kids."

Her optimistic tone came on a upbeat day when legislators swiftly began passing the spending bills needed to fund state government, public schools and higher education over the next two years.

Despite the optimism, some took a more measured approach.

"Overall, education funding is down. There are still going to be layoffs," said Assembly Ways and Means Chairwoman Debbie Smith, D-Sparks. "Programs still will be eliminated."

In the Assembly, members voted 34-4 for Assembly Bill 579, the school funding plan. All Assembly Democrats voted for the bill.

Voting no were Republicans John Hambrick and Richard McArthur, both R-Las Vegas; Cresent Hardy, R-Mesquite; and John Ellison, R-Elko. The school funding plan is part of a budget deal, brokered by Republican Gov. Brian Sandoval and key lawmakers, that requires extending taxes that were due to expire.

Under AB579, teachers and other education workers still face 2.5 percent wage cuts, although those reductions could be changed under negotiations with the Nevada State Education Association.

But per pupil support, the primary funding source for schools, actually will increase over the next two years. The state now provides an average $5,192 per year in support for each student. In the new plan, pupil support this fall will increase to $5,263 and then to $5,374 in the fall of 2012.

That's largely because under the budget agreement, $221 million in room taxes, gathered in Clark and Washoe counties, will go directly to the public schools. Sandoval initially had proposed keeping these funds in the state budget.

In addition, the bill extending taxes that would have expired June 30 included the retention of a 0.35 percentage point increase in the sales tax rate. These funds, estimated at $290 million, also will be given directly to schools. By keeping the so-called "sunset" taxes, the state's sales tax rate remains at 6.85 percent. In Clark County, counting locally imposed taxes, the total rate is 8.1 percent.

The state Senate today is expected to approve the Assembly-passed budget bills.

In the state Senate, law­makers voted 15-6 to approve a bill that cuts by 2.5 percent the salaries of state employees and college and university staff and workers while also requiring six unpaid furlough days a year. The state Senate also approved a bill that provides $60 million for construction and repair of state buildings, and one authorizing state agencies to spend $11 billion in federal grants, gifts and fees.

All 11 Senate Democrats and four of the 10 Repubicans voted for the three appropriations bills in the state Senate.

"That what's we believe in," said state Sen. Barbara Cegavske, R-Las Vegas, who voted against the spending bills. "We believe we did the right thing. We have the right to vote how we feel."

Also voting against the three bills were Sens. Michael Roberson and Elizabeth Halseth, both R-Las Vegas; Greg Brower, R-Reno; Don Gustavson, R-Sparks; and James Settelmeyer, R-Minden.

The Assembly supports the state Senate-passed bills.

The last budget bill, Assembly Bill 580, which provides $6.2 billion to fund operations of state agencies, still must be approved. Legislators also have yet to act on Assembly Bill 561, which would reauthorize $620 million in taxes that otherwise would expire on June 30.

Swift approval of all budget and tax bills is expected. They are all part of the negotiated budget agreement reached Wednesday, under which general fund spending is almost the same as current spending.

Assembly Speaker John Oceguera, D-Las Vegas, was confident that all the bills will receive final approval today and be sent to the governor for his signature.

Legislators now have worked 13 straight days, often late into the evening. The 120-day legislative session must adjourn by 1 a.m. Tuesday. Sandoval has emphasized he wants the Legislature to adjourn on time, without the need for him to call a special legislative session.

Contact Capital Bureau Chief Ed Vogel at evogel@reviewjournal.com or 775-687-3901. Reporters Laura Myers and Benjamin Spillman contributed to this story.