Since Sept. 1, the unexpected staff shortages have forced eight schools to cancel classes for the day and two others to combine classes, according to the Clark County School District, which includes Las Vegas. The district said one of those schools had 87% of its teachers call out sick on the same day.
The contentious contract negotiations are unfolding at a time when labor unions across the country are challenging how workers are treated — from Hollywood’s ongoing writers strike and Detroit ’s auto production lines to the Los Angeles Unified School District and the Las Vegas Strip. In addition to being one of the largest school districts in the U.S., with about 295,000 students, the Clark County School District is the largest in Nevada. It is facing more than 1,100 teacher vacancies.
Negotiations resumed this week, but ahead of Wednesday’s hearing, the school district announced it had declared an impasse with the teachers union, saying arbitration was now “the only way” to resolve the ongoing fight after 11 unsuccessful bargaining sessions. It called the union's demands “unaffordable” and “budget-busting.”
The district said its final offer before declaring an impasse included a 9% salary increase during the first year of a new contract, a new pay scale that it says emphasizes college education and years of experience, and other incentives for special education teachers and hard-to-fill positions.