Letter: Clark County schools deserve a bigger budget

Monday, Dec. 18, 2000 | 10:40 a.m.

I just want to thank the Sun and reporter Cy Ryan for covering the important topics presented to Gov. Kenny Guinn by the Democratic leaders of our community. As a public school teacher for the last seven years, I am very much aware of the problems our schools face daily. I want to encourage our leaders not to give up on the most important areas that Guinn could give budget money to, which are our schools and families.

I especially want to thank Assembly Speaker Richard Perkins for pointing out that Clark County is having trouble recruiting and retaining teachers. The current trend in this district is to bring teachers from out of state to fill our need here in this district. But our district is becoming a "training site" for new teachers. It is true that many new teachers come to Las Vegas for a year or two to get something to put on their resume and then go back to wherever they came from with experience. For our state to get and keep the best and the brightest for our children, it is necessary for more money to be spent in the area of education.

Not only is more competitive teacher pay and benefits needed, but also money is needed for before- and after-school programs for kids. Oftentimes it is expected that teachers offer their personal time to lead a club after school as well as fund it with their own money or spend more personal time to raise money to fund the activity for the kids. This would not be necessary if more budget money was allocated for these type of activities.

SHEILA REID-SHAVER