Las Vegas - On Thursday, two teachers were handcuffed and led from a school board meeting in Clark County, Nevada.
A new teacher's contract is the subject of protracted negotiations between the Clark County School District and the Clark County Education Association (CCEA). Prior to the board of trustees meeting, almost 5,000 teachers, according to CCEA, participated in a rally.
The scheduled meeting was interrupted when hundreds of teachers started yelling and chanting in favor of higher compensation and the dismissal of the superintendent.
Two instructors were handcuffed by officers from the Clark County School District Police Department. Another individual was taken out of the board meeting by police without being restrained.
Evelyn Garcia-Morales, the president of the school board, attempted to calm the situation and regain control of the meeting on Thursday.
Business cannot be done, Garcia-Morales declared. "CCEA is obviously interfering with our organization's operations. It is obvious that CCEA intends to prevent us from holding this meeting.
Due to similar disturbances, the previous school board meeting on August 10 was adjourned without any mention of the topics on the agenda.
March saw the start of contract talks, and soon after that CCEA ran television commercials calling for the dismissal of Superintendent Dr. Jesus Jara and criticizing his management style.
CCEA President Marie Niesess stated, "If we're in the business of providing instruction, then we need to make sure that we're doing everything we can to retain our educators, and to recruit educators here."
The proposition CCEA is putting up, according to one elementary school teacher, is transformative.
Marijo Burroughs, a teacher at Barber Elementary School, declared that "teachers aren't making it" at the moment. You attend school, yet you're unable to make ends meet. We are only requesting the earnings that were owed to pay the rent.
During the most recent legislative session, Nevada's lawmakers made a historic investment in public education. The CCEA is requesting a 10% rise in the first year and an 8% increase in the second in order to use that money for teacher pay.
In response, CCSD has put out a plan that offers 8.5% the first year and 2% the following year.
A few teachers left the meeting after the arrests, but the board meeting went on.
In response to the meeting on Thursday, CCSD issued the following statement:
Throughout every negotiation session, the Clark County School District continues to advocate at the bargaining table for increasing pay and benefits for deserving teachers and correcting the old salary schedule with a new equitable schedule.
Negotiations with the CCEA will only be resolved at the bargaining table, not by disrupting the business operations of the school district. As stated at Thursday’s board meeting, violating the law by disrupting a public meeting results in consequences. CCSD is charged with educating Clark County’s children, and those who seek to disrupt the District’s business operations will not deter us from fulfilling our mission.
Once the most unruly agitators were removed from the meeting, the Board of Trustees were able to continue the meeting and complete their business.