School District Cannot Compete for Teachers

Published on Fri, Aug 1, 2014 (11:50 a.m.)

Submitted by Clark County Education Association

School District Cannot Compete for Teachers
Over 600 vacancies remain unfilled as school year fast approaches

LAS VEGAS, Nev. – For the last two days headlines have highlighted the teacher shortage facing the nation and the Clark County School District’s (CCSD) dire need for more teachers as the new school year begins on August 25. While teaching is not the most attractive field in today’s world, this is not the primary reason CCSD still has hundreds of positions unfilled.

The fact is that there are a number of reasons why it has been difficult to recruit teachers to come to Clark County.
1) There is a shortage of elementary teachers, which is compounded by the fact that we are not the only school district seeking to hire them. There are more than 7,000 teacher vacancies in the western United States this year.
2) CCSD needs to be in a position to compete for the best and most qualified teachers. This problem is a statewide problem, not simply a Clark County problem. The lack of funding for public education in our state has resulted in this conundrum; our teacher salaries are not competitive with other states. Why? These states have made public education a priority and they have invested in their public schools. Nevada, on the other hand, has failed to adequately fund our schools.

Our school system will be stretched to the max if CCSD is unable to hire the needed teachers. Class sizes will continue to balloon and hundreds of substitute teachers will have to be placed in classrooms until CCSD fills those positions – all this while anticipating an increase in student enrollment.

“It is time for Nevada’s elected representatives to make the right and tough choices to fully fund public education. At the district level, we must work with CCSD to make sure our salary schedule is attractive so that we can hire and retain the best teachers for our students,” stated CCEA President Vikki Courtney.

“Our students are full of promise and we cannot afford to shortchange their opportunities for academic success – we have to do better and we have to do it now!” Courtney concluded.