LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — Ever since President Donald Trump's March 20 executive order to close the U.S. Department of Education, there's been a struggle over the massive federal bureaucracy.
WATCH | Nevada educators fear funding cuts as Trump moves to close U.S. Department of Education
The Education Department's decision to withhold, at least temporarily, $6 billion in grant funding sparked lawsuits. And a Trump-backed push to fire nearly 1,400 department employees was blessed by the U.S. Supreme Court on Monday.
But the moves 2,400 miles away in Washington, D.C are reverberating in Las Vegas, as local officials warily eye the national debate for signs of how it will impact Southern Nevada.
WATCH | States sue Trump admin over frozen educational funding
"I don't think it's really hit people yet in terms of what can happen, because it hasn't hit people," said John Vellardita, executive director of the Clark County Education Association, the largest teachers union in Nevada.
"It's we're still waiting to kind of see what happens and also to see if they do have a special [legislative] session, if education is going to be part of the budget deficit that they have to make up for," Vellardita added.
Rumors of a special session are prevalent among Carson City insiders, whether to deal with potential cuts to Medicare or cuts to education. (Trump's executive order specified that the closure of the department should happen while "...ensuring the effective and uninterrupted delivery of services, programs and benefits on which Americans rely.")
And while there's uncertainty about what or how much local school districts could lose, Vellardita said the mission of the department is still important.
"Education in some states is not the same as education in other states," Vellardita said. "I think what's going to be created is a system that does not live up to what the intent was when it was created, which was the so-called great equalizer.
"I mean, let's face it, right now, it's not necessarily the great equalizer. There's the challenges around it, but to strip the role of the federal government out of that, I think, tips the balance to more inequity that we'll see than what exists today."
WATCH | $6 billion federal school funding freeze hits CCSD
Kristan Nigro teaches at Rex Bell Elementary School, including working with English language learner students, and says losing extra funds meant to help students struggling in the system would be devastating.
"Honestly, if those funds do go away, we're really going to have to kind of pivot and figure out what's the best next course of action that we can do to continue offering that education to those kiddos," Nigro says. "Because they're here, our job is to teach them and to make sure that they are prepared, and having no budget to do that could potentially really make things a little sticky."
Nigro says teachers are accustomed to dealing with surprises as they prepare for a new school year, but says she wishes policymakers would focus on how to boost schools rather than cutting the infrastructure that supports them.
Asked what she would say to President Trump if given the opportunity, Nigro said, "As a 13-year veteran, I urge him, please don't take that funding away, especially, you know here in Nevada, we have a lot of students. We are the fifth largest school district, and every single one of those students that are in our district matter, no matter what their background story is, and so we really need to make sure that we do not take from those students. Please don't do that, because that's going to really harm in the end."
The Clark County School District said Superintendent Jhone Ebert was not available for an interview Tuesday.
Gov. Joe Lombardo — who in March wrote an op-ed in Brietbart supporting Trump's executive order — said in a statement that his office and the state Department of Education "...remain in constant communication with the Administration as the White House Office of Management and Budget and United States Department of Education continue to review existing federal programs and the implementation of the [Fiscal Year] 2025 funding."
During the session, however, Lombardo signed Assembly Bill 494, a measure championed by Assemblywoman Selena Torres-Fossett, D-Clark County.
The bill says that if any federal laws or regulations about education are repealed, the state Education Department is required to prepare a report about how state funding can be used to carrying out formerly federal duties, and whether portions of the repealed laws could be inserted into the Nevada Revised Statutes.
The bill also says the state Education Department can adopt regulations similar to federal laws or regulations that are repealed.
Despite the potential for cuts or other legal maneuverings, Nigro said she and her fellow teachers are focused on doing their jobs.
"I will say this, no matter what happens, whether it's state or federal — and I know I'm not the only one that thinks this — we are going to go in there and we're going to educate the kids no matter what, and that's just how it's going to be," she said. "And unfortunately a lot of those things are out of my control, but all the things that I can control, I will take care of those, and I will make sure that we're going to start the year off right."
Do you have questions about politics, elections or government? Email us using the Ask Steve link on our website.
Local News