Deal lets school district apply for funding
The teachers union stepped out of Clark County School District’s way in the nick of time Friday morning, allowing the district to apply for $40 million of federal grant money with just a few hours to spare before the submission deadline.
Gov. Brian Sandoval laid the groundwork for the settlement by volunteering to mediate a meeting between the two parties Thursday night and announced the agreement after a second meeting Friday. Although the district is applying for the Race to the Top grant, it first had to receive the support of its teachers union, the Clark County Education Association, under the Obama administration’s requirements. That proved difficult.
The two parties have been quarreling for a year now, with the union suspending all joint ventures with the district in March. The union also turned down a half dozen of the district’s attempts from July through October to collaborate on the Race to the Top application.
Union Executive Director John Vellardita then blocked the application because “the district has not engaged in any genuine attempts at collaboration,” he wrote in an Oct. 24 letter to the district.
“We certainly reached out,” Superintendent Dwight Jones said after the parties reached an agreement Friday. “We want to work together.”
It took a governor to bring the parties together, and the district didn’t need to change much of its grant application to win over the union.
If awarded the $40 million, the district would still spend the money on 41,000 students at 63 of Clark County’s poorer schools, giving them high-technology tools and literacy intervention programs. The district would hire 22 teachers and 24 support staff dedicated mostly to helping students struggling with English.
MINOR CHANGES
Two minor changes were made to the grant application on Friday. First, the district would create an oversight structure at each of the 63 schools, which would include teachers who would have a voice in implementing the new programs.
“It’s not what we wanted in the first place, but I’m happy that’s what we both have now,” Jones said.
Also, the district’s application listed specific vendors for implementing some of the programs, but the union wanted those programs to be put out for bid.
The U.S. Department of Education will notify grant recipients in December.
“I am pleased that by working together, leaders of education in Clark County were able to agree to get this done for our children,” Sandoval said.
Jones and union officials echoed Sandoval’s statement.
“We cannot afford to play politics with our children’s education. There is too much at stake,” the union wrote in a statement Friday. Union officials didn’t return calls for comment.
But the union’s refusal to come to the table from July through October was “vendetta politics,” district spokeswoman Amanda Fulkerson said earlier this week.
Jones said he hopes this meeting – described as “not aggressive” – marks a change in the parties’ relationship.
“At the end of the day, CCEA represents the teachers that work for the school district,” he said. “I’m optimistic this is a step in the right direction for so many other things we’re working on.”
