State’s teachers’ pay rated 15th in the nation

Tuesday, July 16, 2002 | 11:05 a.m.

Nevada teachers rank 15th in the nation when it comes to their average paychecks -- $44,234 in 2001 -- a ranking that jumped six spots when the low cost of living in the Silver State was taken into account, according to a new study by the American Federation of Teachers.

But new teachers in Las Vegas fared dismally, ranking 80th out of 100 cities for first-year pay, according to the study.

The Clark County School District offers $26,847 to first-year teachers with bachelor's degrees, nearly $3,500 less than the average for the major cities.

With the new school year just over a month away, Clark County still needs 357 new teachers by the Aug. 26 start date, and pay is a serious issue, officials said.

"There's no question our starting salaries are our biggest deficit when it comes to recruiting," said George Ann Rice, associate superintendent of human resources for the district said in an earlier interview. "We can offer them great weather, a terrific working environment, but most teachers won't give us a second glance when they find out what we can pay them."

Nevada ranked 15th in the nation for pay for new teachers with bachelor's degrees, at $29,419, according to the survey. The national average starting salary was $28,986, up 4.4 percent from the 1999-2000 school year.

The AFT, which is affiliated with the AFL-CIO and does not represent Nevada teachers, compared starting and average salaries nationwide. The results were scheduled to be released today in Las Vegas, where the union is holding its biennial meeting.

Mary Ella Holloway, president of the Clark County Education Association, said the AFT's figures for starting salaries in Nevada included the one-time $2,000 signing bonus guaranteed by the state to all new teachers. That means second-year teachers in Clark County will actually make $200 less than they did the previous year and $800 less than a first-year teacher.

A teacher must work 10 years and earn 32 credits above a bachelor's degree in order to reach $41,000 on the Clark County School District pay scale, Holloway said.

In the meantime, teachers are struggling to raise their families, and many are so frustrated they are leaving the profession entirely, Holloway said.

Increasing teacher pay has been a rallying call of the Clark County Education Association, which represents about 12,000 of the district's 14,000 teachers. A coalition of the state's school superintendents have put together a $907 million education improvement plan that would include pay hikes for teachers. Members of the Clark County School Board have repeatedly said they want to increase teacher pay, but are hampered by a flat budget and sagging economy.

Fremont, Calif. offered the highest starting salary in the country, at $43,884. Little Rock, Ark.finished last for major urban areas, offering new teachers $23,135.

Teachers in Connecticut earned the top average salary with $53,507, followed by California at $52,480. South Dakota had the lowest average teacher salary at $30,265. The national average was $43,250.

The average teacher salary nationwide was up just 3.4 percent from 1999-2000, the smallest increase in 40 years, according to the survey. Teachers had an average of nearly 16 years experience.

"The good news is that better starting salaries will attract more people to the teaching profession, but the bad news is that increases for experienced teachers are inadequate to keep them in the classroom," said AFT President Sandra Feldman. "We need to retain quality teachers so that students and rookie teachers have the opportunity to learn from seasoned professionals."

Public schools must be prepared to compete with other industries for new college graduates, Feldman said. Too many students are studying for careers as teachers only to be lured to other professions after college, Feldman said.

"If public schools can't offer competitive salaries, would-be teachers will continue to go elsewhere," Feldman said.

The AFT represents about 1.4 million teachers nationwide, while the National Education Association has 2.7 million members. A bid to merge the two unions in 1998 failed to get the required two-thirds approval vote from the membership.