One of our favorite protests to cover for Our Town Reno was the February 11th 2023 teacher’s rally for better pay and working conditions.
Despite this large protest, with hundreds attending in rainy conditions, several weeks into this 2023-24 school year, teachers, as well as principals and school psychologists, are currently still working on an expired contract. Negotiations are ongoing, with the amount for teacher pay raises a main sticking point.
This week, Washoe Education Association President Calen Evans released this statement on the group’s Facebook page:
“We met with the district’s team for nearly 10 hours yesterday as we work to come to an agreement on our contract. While we made some very positive gains in areas there are still some crucial components on which we do not agree.
While there are many things, we all agree on and fully support, there are some fundamental differences in how we view what makes an effective education system and how to best improve learning outcomes for students. There is also a difference of opinion on where we believe money should be placed and how to best attract and retain highly qualified educators. These differences do not mean we don’t want the same outcomes, we just have differences in how to get there and it is leading to our inability to come to an agreement.
Finally, we are running into some obstacles around the projected cost of certain items and projections for certain expenses, which is leading to difficulty in agreeing to a finalized compensation package.
To be clear, these differences and hurdles do not mean that our district doesn’t support our efforts. Just because we don’t all agree on everything, that doesn’t mean we don’t ultimately want the same outcomes. We believe in our superintendent and her leadership and strongly support our board of trustees.
With that being said, we are strong in our resolve to provide our unit with a contract that we feel reflects the FULL value we know our district can provide. Our priority is to come to this agreement collaboratively, but we still are not to a point that we feel we have maximized the value of this contract. Our hope is that our district's team, through directives from our superintendent and board of trustees, continue to be more aggressive and creative with its budget to support our educators. We are hopeful that through collaboration and a strong drive from both sides that we’ll be able to push this over the finish line quickly. “
Teacher retention has been challenging in recent years due to pay not adequately covering rising costs of living and still extremely large class sizes, despite efforts to reduce these and have co-teaching arrangements. New teachers have been hired but with a starting salary of about $41,000 per year, many leave the profession quickly.
Another bargaining group The Association of Professional and Technical Administrators, the union that includes school psychologists, previously filed a complaint with Nevada’s Government Employee Management Relations Board accusing the district of delaying negotiations for the new contract.
The President of the Washoe Schools Principals Association Colbee Riordan has said starting the school year without a contract has made it difficult to hire for key positions.
Washoe County School Superintendent Susan Enfield, who took on the job in July 2022, has said she is committed to resolving the contract situation with all concerned bargaining groups. She has said she considers $65,000 a more adequate starting salary for a teacher.