Find a way to keep veteran teachers

George Appleton, Las Vegas

Friday, April 11, 2008 | 2:02 a.m.

In reply to Emily Richmond’s article in Wednesday’s paper in which she wrote about schoolteachers and discussions about how to offer incentives for them to say on the job:

The problem is, the greatest incentive for them not to stay here already exists. People who have given their working lives to educating the children of Clark County will, after the end of this school year, find themselves with no health insurance if they retire after Sept. 1.

They will be able to participate in the Public Employees Benefit Plan only if the school district for which they worked provides coverage through PEBP for active employees. Only the Lincoln County School District has done that and is approved to provide coverage for all its teachers through PEBP, effective July 1.

Retired employees who are currently participating in PEBP, such as myself, will continue to have the cost of their health coverage paid, in part, by the School District.

Sept. 1 is the crucial date, the reason that many good, experienced teachers will be retiring just as soon as this school year ends, and the reason that, for the school year beginning in the fall, the shortage of teachers is going to be worse than it was last year (the district has still not completely caught up with demand), and kids at all grade levels are going to be taught by substitutes or first-year teachers who don’t have much, or any, experience to lean on. There is certainly no incentive for teachers to put their whole lives into working for the Clark County School District.

For the good of our students, and our teachers, the Clark County School District should follow the example of Lincoln County and make the switch in time to keep some of those about-to-retire teachers working a few years longer.