SEASON 5: EPISODE 4 | Airdate: 8/5/2022
August 8 is the first day of class in the Clark County School District and Nevada Week gathered a group of CCSD teachers to share their hopes for the coming school year, as well as their concerns and ideas on how to address them.
One of the biggest challenges of the last school year was staffing shortages. The district announced it had hired 883 new teachers and there would be a licensed teacher in 91 percent of the classrooms, but the district is still short about 1,300 teachers.
Kristan Nigro is a kindergarten teacher at Schorr Elementary. She said she started last year with 30 kids in her class. Eventually, her school was able to get another teacher and divide up the kids. By the end of the school year, she had 16 kids in class.
Marissa Sarandos is a second-grade teacher at William Snyder Elementary. She said some of the issues surrounding teacher shortages go beyond just Clark County. She said staffing issues that came to light during the pandemic were there all along but only made worse by the pandemic.
She said many teachers don’t feel valued, and they don’t feel properly compensated for their high level of education and for the extra time they put into education. Sarandos said teachers give their hearts to their kids, “but we’re kind of sick of being the sacrificial lamb. That we just have to do it for the love of the job.”
Eric Luchs is a debate teacher at Foothill High School. He said that the district isn’t just low on teachers but it’s also low on substitutes, which makes it difficult for full-time teachers to take a sick day or personal day.
Many teachers sell their prep periods to cover other teachers when they’re absent and as a way to make extra money.
Kelley Sauve is a theater teacher at Durango High School. She explained that she sells her prep periods as a way to not live paycheck to paycheck. Sauve said that prep periods are guaranteed in their union contracts with the school district. They allow teachers to grade papers, get ready for the next class or run to the bathroom. However, teachers can sell them, which means the district gives them money to teach another class for that period instead of using that time for preparation.
Nigro said she sold her prep periods so often last year that she became a defacto gym teacher.
A survey in February by the National Education Association found that 55 percent of educators are thinking of leaving the profession.
Lisa Schrader is a seventh-grade math teacher from Bailey Middle School. She said she absolutely had thought about leaving the profession.
“It’s frustrating when you’re not valued as an employee,” she said, “When you’re not being paid what you’re worth. When you’re expected to take on more and more and you’re not compensated for that.”
Schrader said there are a lot of professions that love to have former teachers because of the skill sets they have.
Sarandos agreed. She said she took a $10,000 pay cut when she left waiting tables to become a teacher. She wonders at times if teaching is the best career for her.
Nigro noted that one way many teachers, including herself, could feel more valued is through pay raises. She questions why teachers are expected to take a lower pay just because teachers have traditionally always been underpaid and those going into teaching should know that.
Sauve said that most teachers are highly educated and they have to continue their education to keep their teaching license. Plus, she said, that extra education comes out of the teacher’s pocket but salaries aren’t always increased for that extra education.
In addition, Sarandos said there is much more scrutiny of what teachers are doing in the classroom and how they are teaching. She said parents are questioning how and what is being taught even though they have no experience as an educator. She said that other professions don’t have to suffer the same level of interference.
Clark County School District is trying to address the salary problem. It recently increased the starting salary for new teachers from $43,000 to $50,000. Luchs said that is a competitive salary but wonders about veteran teachers like himself.
CCSD is giving out a retention bonus but he would like to see more than just a bonus for seasoned teachers. He would like to see a complete re-evaluation of the pay scale for all educators.
Part of the problem is not just money but people wanting to go into teaching. The Las Vegas Sun recently reported that the Alternative Route to Licensure program, which allows people who have a college degree in something other than education to get into the teaching profession without starting from scratch, has been suspended because of a lack of interest.
Nigro said there used to be a flood of student teachers in the fall but that pipeline is shrinking and fewer and fewer people are interested in becoming a teacher.
Sarandos noted that some colleges and universities have closed their teaching programs because of a lack of students wanting to pursue the profession.
Besides pay, another big concern for teachers has been safety. CCSD announced several new safety updates before the start of the school year. It is piloting an instant alert program in nine schools. The alerts are a badge that teachers wear around their necks that allows them to call for help. The district will also be upgrading 4,000 security cameras, adding new fencing and enforcing a single point of entry.
Superintendent Dr. Jesus Jara also asked parents to be involved in the safety at schools.
“Parents, I ask you as you send your kids from home to our campuses make sure you talk to them, make sure that you check their bookbags, make sure that they are ready to learn, you are the first line of defense,” he said in a back-to-school news conference, “Students please know that we will continue to enforce the district discipline code of conduct. I can’t emphasize enough that the safety of our students and our staff is of the utmost priority for me and for the school board of trustees.”
Schrader said she doesn’t see much parent involvement in middle school and when there is involvement it is more negative than positive. She echoed Sarandos's thoughts earlier that parents seem to believe they know more about how and what to teach simply because they were in middle school.
As far as safety is concerned, Sauve said much of it is the relationship between the educator and the administration.
“A lot of safety issues come down to trust,” she said, “Trust between the educator and the administration.”
Sauve said the administration needs to trust that when a teacher writes a student up for a behavioral referral that it is needed and the teacher needs to know that the administration will address the situation.
She also said that when the student is back in class the teacher needs to communicate and connect with the student about appropriate behavior in the future.
“If there were easy solutions, we would have done them already,” Luchs said about safety, “These problems are bigger than any of us and it is a commentary on society as a whole right now.”
He said when it comes to safety it is important to find the best solution involving the teacher, administration, student, and parents. Luchs said everyone needs to be on the same page and know that safety is paramount.
