Letter: Funding for teacher recruiting is disgraceful

Thursday, June 15, 2006 | 7:19 a.m.

After reading the Sun's June 11 article, "The Recruiter," it is amazing that anyone stopped to see Kim Grytdahl! Those of us who live in the Clark County School District know all about escalating housing costs and the critical needs of our burgeoning school population.

In a county where hundred-dollar bills flow like water into slot machines and our casinos spend millions on four-color direct mail pieces to locals and tourists alike, not to mention megamillion-dollar ad campaigns, it is incomprehensible that not one has agreed to assist Clark County with teacher recruitment.

Is there not one individual or group of casino owners or businesses ready, willing and able to provide the resources to assist our recruiters with an enticing display, "trinkets" representative of all the good things the Las Vegas Valley has to offer, or even print literature or make a DVD for potential teachers to view at home? They spend more on their "weekly giveaway incentives," from jelly beans to manicure sets, than it would take to produce display and materials for our recruiters!

To help recruiters would take just a miniscule amount of the estimated $600 million potential tax surplus. Where are our priorities? Good teachers translate to better educated students, which in turn translate to a more educated workforce for all business in our state.

Yes, we need more, including updated textbooks, computers and schools, but without quality educators the Clark County schools and their students will continue to suffer.

Thank you for sharing Mr. Grytdahl's story.

Marna J. Morris, Henderson