Assembly Democrats’ Landmark Education Reforms Go Into Effect
June 1, 2011
CARSON CITY— Today, Assembly Bills 222, 225 and 229, legislation to reform Nevada’s K-12 education system, went into effect. Assembly Speaker John Oceguera, Speaker Pro Tempore Debbie Smith, and the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, chaired by Speaker Pro Tempore Debbie Smith, sponsored the legislation.
“These reforms are a major step forward for Nevada,” Oceguera said. “Having systems in place to more effectively evaluate educators and sufficiently reward them and the tools to replace the ones that don’t belong in a classroom will allow us to provide the education that Nevada’s children deserve.”
“These are landmark education reforms for Nevada—the culmination of years of discussions and hard work,” Smith said. “We commissioned reports, studied what other states are doing right, and solicited input from policy experts, parents, teachers, community leaders and even students in order to get the right education reforms for our state.”
About Assembly Democrats’ Education Reforms:
• A.B. 222, sponsored by Speaker Pro Tempore Debbie Smith, creates the Teachers and Leaders Council in order to develop a more effective four-tier evaluation system for teachers and administrators. The council, which will be made up of parents, teachers, principals, policy experts, and school boards members, was proposed by the Blue Ribbon Task Force.
• A.B. 225, sponsored by the Assembly Ways and Means Committee, changes post-probationary status for educators by requiring that if a post-probationary educator receives negative evaluations two years in a row, he or she would be placed back on probationary status.
• A.B. 229, sponsored by Speaker John Oceguera, establishes a pay-for-performance program so educators are rewarded for positive outcomes, extends the probationary period from one to three years so there is adequate time to evaluate an educator, and adds as grounds for termination the definition of gross misconduct so educators who make egregious violations can be dismissed swiftly. It also provides that lay-offs of educators must not be based solely on seniority and requires reporting of the number of administrators, teachers, and support staff at each school and in each district to better determine the level of bureaucracy in our education system. In addition, the legislation directs that educator evaluations be based at least 50 percent on student achievement.
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