Letter: Why aren’t teachers used as recruiters?

Tuesday, May 2, 2006 | 7:28 a.m.

In the April 28 edition of the Las Vegas Sun, teacher Bart Boulton asked: Why not send teachers abroad to recruit instead of administrators? As my wife and I are retired Clark County School District teachers, I think I can answer that.

First of all, Bart, you are a teacher - what would you know about the needs of the School District?

Second, you're supposed to now be teaching to the test(s) (Clark County School District, Nevada and "No Child Left Behind") and spending your track breaks improving your ability to be sure that no student of yours is "left behind," no matter what his or her limitations or aspirations.

Third, trips to the Philippines and Spain are great perks.

And finally, as you mentioned, "veteran teachers ... could answer prospects' concerns honestly." How hard it will be, for instance, for a new teacher to find affordable housing here; why it is that elementary schools are beginning to teach half the year in Spanish; that, instead of teaching, they'll be following a script so that all students in all schools are on the same page the same day; and (if the veteran teacher even knows this), if you work until retirement age, the health care you've depended on all those years disappears because the Health Trust no longer covers retired teachers.

George Appleton, Las Vegas