This bill could give Nevada charter school teachers pay raises

Public charter school teachers could receive pay raises in the next biennium thanks to legislation on the table in Carson City.

Speaker Steve Yeager, D-Las Vegas, presented Assembly Bill 398 on Thursday to provide additional compensation for hard-to-fill positions for Title 1 schools and special education teachers. He also included an amendment that would fund pay raises for charter school teachers.

“It is obviously time that we recognize our charter school teachers and education support professionals and the good work that they do every single day in educating Nevada’s future leaders,” Yeager said at the Assembly Committee on Ways and Means.

Last week, Gov. Joe Lombardo said he would not sign an education budget that does not include equal pay for public charter school teachers and make teacher pay raises permanent. Yeager and other Democratic leaders reiterated they would work on legislation to include charter school teachers.

Funding charter school teacher pay raises and raises for educational support professionals at charter schools would cost approximately $19.3 million per fiscal year. The funds — taken from the general fund — would go to the Interim Finance Committee, which would allocate the funds to charter schools.

The charter school pay raises would be disbursed in a structure similar to the one used by Senate Bill 231 from the 2023 session, which allocated funding for teacher and education support professional raises.

That bill resulted in pay raises of approximately 20 percent across Nevada school districts and helped decrease vacancy rates.

To further address teacher vacancy rates, Yeager’s bill proposes a program that would add an additional $5,000 to an educator’s base pay for those who teach in hard-to-fill positions at schools with at least 5 percent vacancy rates.

“We know that too many of our schools and critical subject areas are struggling to attract and retain talented teachers,” Yeager said. “This bill provides a targeted solution, offering additional compensation to the educators who step up and teach where they are needed most in some of the most challenging environments.”

Yeager estimated the hard-to-fill program would cost $45 million each fiscal year to fund, with a total of $90 million over the 2026-27 biennium.

He proposed dipping into the state’s Rainy Day Fund, which has a balance of about $1.3 billion, to fund the program.

“I do think that it is accurate to say that it is already raining and has been raining when it comes to filling hard-to-fill positions,” Yeager said. “If we are being honest with ourselves, things are only likely to get worse when it comes to education and education funding, given what’s happening at the federal level at the moment, so I believe that this is a good use of the funds.”

The bill was met with appreciation from Republican legislators and charter school representatives for including charter school raises.

“This is a meaningful step towards ensuring that all public educators, regardless of the school model, are treated fairly,” said Gil Lopez, executive director of the Charter School Association of Nevada. “Public charter school teachers face the same staffing challenges, serve Title 1 students and are equally committed to Nevada’s children.”

The Nevada State Education Association and education support professionals expressed opposition, saying it excludes important positions, such as school bus drivers, paraprofessionals and other important education roles.

“We’re sending a message that their dedication, their service and their potential don’t count. We risk pushing them out of the profession entirely,” said Andrea Kelly, president of the Humboldt County Support Staff Organization.

Yeager said others could be included in future legislation, but he did not feel it was fiscally responsible to include education support professionals at this time and would cause the funds to be spread too thin.

Contact Jessica Hill at jehill@reviewjournal.com. Follow @jess_hillyeah on X.