Bill
AB 398
The bill creates a temporary statewide funding mechanism to provide additional compensation to hard-to-fill teaching positions in Title I and shortage areas to boost recruitment an
Status and timeline
- Assembly Bill 398 (Yeager / Hafen), introduced Feb 4, 2025, was enacted (Chapter 320).
- Passed the Legislature May 29, 2025; approved by the Governor June 5, 2025; chaptered June 6, 2025.
- Committee activity: referred to Ways & Means, Revenue & Taxation, Appropriations; amended (Assembly Amendment No. 805); held under submission May 23 before final passage.
Purpose / intent
- Create a statewide, temporary funding mechanism to reduce high teacher vacancy rates by providing additional compensation (on top of base pay) for “hard‑to‑fill” positions in Nevada public schools. The Legislature states this is intended as a temporary, targeted intervention to improve recruitment and retention in the most impacted roles/schools.
Key provisions and requirements
- Department of Education awards: To the extent money is appropriated, the Department of Education must award funds to school districts to provide additional compensation for hard‑to‑fill positions.
- Definition of “hard‑to‑fill position” (not exhaustive):
- Teacher positions at Title I schools that meet vacancy-rate thresholds: high school ≥15%; middle/junior high ≥12%; elementary ≥10%.
- Teacher or other positions staffed by personnel licensed under chapter 391 NRS who (1) are teacher of record for a classroom and (2) actively teach the majority of class periods in English language arts, mathematics, science, or special education when those subjects are designated as suffering a critical labor shortage (district board determines critical shortage).
- Application and documentation: Districts applying for awards must specify amount requested, number of hard‑to‑fill positions to be funded, and provide documentation that each position was filled during the immediately preceding calendar quarter.
- Collective bargaining: Funds awarded to districts are subject to collective bargaining and may be used only to provide additional compensation for hard‑to‑fill positions.
- Reporting: Each district must submit a biennial report (not later than Dec 1 of each even‑numbered year) to the Office of Finance and the Interim Finance Committee showing (a) number of teachers receiving the additional compensation in the current year, (b) total amount of that compensation, and (c) number of hard‑to‑fill positions in the district. Special content requirements apply for the Dec 1, 2026 report.
- Charter schools: The bill appropriates funds to support salary increases at charter schools and requires charter schools to provide specified staffing and plan information to the State Public Charter School Authority as a condition of receiving allocations.
- Limits on local use of weighted funds: Eliminates the authority for a school district located in a county with population ≥700,000 (currently Clark County) to use pupil‑weighted funding to pay hiring/retention incentives.
- Oversight / study: Expands the Subcommittee on Educational Accountability’s authority to study teacher compensation competitiveness and related outcomes.
- Legislative budgeting: Requires the Governor, to the extent practicable, to include recommendations for funding this program in future executive budgets.
Fiscal impact / appropriations (explicit in the bill)
- Appropriates $45,000,000 in FY 2025–26 and $45,000,000 in FY 2026–27 to the Interim Finance Committee for allocation to the Department to distribute to school districts for this purpose (Section 8.5).
- Appropriates $19,314,297 in FY 2025–26 and $19,314,297 in FY 2026–27 to the Interim Finance Committee for allocation to the State Public Charter School Authority to support charter teacher and education support professional salary increases (Section 8.7).
- The bill establishes allocation and pre‑allocation requirements the Interim Finance Committee must satisfy before distributing funds.
Who is affected
- State: Department of Education, Office of Finance, Interim Finance Committee, State Public Charter School Authority, Governor’s budget office.
- Local education agencies: all school districts that apply for awards; in practice the initiative targets Title I schools and shortages in ELA, math, science, and special education.
- Educators: licensed teachers and other licensed educational personnel in eligible hard‑to‑fill positions (funds are intended to be added to employee compensation and are subject to collective bargaining).
- Charter schools: eligible for a parallel allocation stream and required reporting to access funds.
- Note: The bill does not expressly add non‑licensed Education Support Professionals (ESPs) to the statutory “hard‑to‑fill” categories; some testimony sought their inclusion.
Implementation / operational notes
- Awards are made only when money is appropriated; the program is framed as temporary and the Legislature may discontinue funding when vacancies are ameliorated.
- District applications must document that positions were filled in the prior quarter before funds may be used.
- Funds are constrained to compensation increases (not general operating uses) and must flow through collective bargaining processes.
Context and evidence cited
- Supporters point to results from SB 231 (2023) — a prior, temporary differential pay program — which local data and testimonies said produced significant vacancy reductions (e.g., ~53% reduction at Title I schools and ~84% reduction in some special education vacancies). AB 398 codifies a statewide, sustained mechanism to replicate those targeted incentives.
Compiled from official sources — confirm details with the bill’s official record.
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