Editorial: Schools need more support

Tuesday, Aug. 2, 2005 | 9:02 a.m.

It's not just the dizzying enrollment growth that is creating a shortage of teachers in the Clark County School District, although that's certainly a leading factor. A count of students last September by district administrators found 280,444 students attending classes. When school opens Aug. 29, the enrollment will be close to 300,000.

Although the district has hired more than 1,100 teachers for the fall semester, as of today it is still 440 short of the need. With school opening Aug. 29, and with most teachers around the country already committed to jobs elsewhere, it is unlikely that too many more teachers will be hired. The unfilled teacher positions will include between 150 and 200 in the field of special education. Other openings will be in such vital subjects as math, science and English. The reality is that on many days and in many classes, supervision will supplant education.

There are many normal, inescapable reasons in addition to growth for needing to hire so many teachers every summer. Many teachers retire. Many relocate. Many go on extended medical leaves. And there is a recurring reason why each spring and summer the district's recruiters work nonstop and still fall short of hiring enough teachers. The stark fact is that the Clark County School District is not competitive with other big-city districts.

With multiple offers before them, teachers do their homework. They learn about the base starting salary here -- $28,491, which is low even with the district's $2,000 signing bonus. They learn the Legislature has granted teacher raises averaging just 3 percent a year over the next two years. They ask about the district's plan for helping them with moving expenses and learn they will be on their own. They discover they will be lucky to find a home for under $300,000. They learn that district teachers are expected to spend more than $1,000 a year out of their own pockets to buy classroom supplies. They learn that a majority of classrooms are overcrowded. They learn there are not enough substitute teachers, and that they will likely have to give up preparation time to cover other classes.

No matter how much the district's recuiters play up the advantages of the district -- its status as the fifth-largest in the country, its many new schools, the scenery and weather here -- long hours and relatively low pay are hard factors to overcome. If Nevada is ever to attract enough teachers, and by doing so increase academic performance in our schools, lawmakers and the people who put them in office are going to have to be willing to support education much more than they are now.