It was a busy and active Spring Break in Carson City….and it will continue to be active in the next few weeks and months as the Legislature works its way through the more than 1,000 bills. Currently, NSEA is tracking about 130 bills dealing with many facets of public education and public educators. Over Spring Break, we testified on bills dealing with funding (SB 180), an audit of mandatory testing (SB 303) as well as strengthening school progressive discipline plans (SB 386). If you have any questions or concerns, please contact Natha Anderson (nathaanderson@sbcglobal.net).
Education Town Hall Meeting Saturday, April 8 10:00-11:30 at the WEA Office. Please join Assemblymember Teresa Benitez-Thompson, Senators Woodhouse and Ratti at the WEA office to discuss a variety of education issues. We will be discussing Breakfast After the Bell, Read by Three, education funding and evaluations.
Education Committee: April 10 This Monday (April 10th) will busy in the Assembly Education. There are three evaluation bills being heard (AB 320, AB 212 and AB 312) as well as a hearing about creating a teacher loan forgiveness program (AB 351). The hearings will be starting in Assembly Education around 3:15 and could last until 7:00ish. Let’s pack the room to show support for strengthening our evaluations.
Evaluation Bills in a Nutshell
AB 320: Amending NRS 391.460
- takes out the 40% threshold for pupil achievement data
- the pupil achievement data must come from a school or school district
- post probationary teachers designated as effective – next evaluation would be three (3) years
- post probationary teachers designed as highly effective – next evaluation would be five (5) years.
AB 212: Amending NRS 391.460
- States “Pupil achievement data must not be used as part of the evaluation.”
AB 312: Amending NRS 391.460
Any teacher who teaches in a classroom in which the pupil-teacher ratio exceeds the maximum applicable ratio as set by the State Board, the teacher would receive the highest score possible on:
- making connections with prior learning
- creating a safe and supportive classroom environment
- facilitating communication on a regular basis with parents