Teachers gripe and leave; bill listens up

By Emily Richmond

Wednesday, April 25, 2007 | 7:06 a.m.

In August 2005, Angie Orozco was thrilled to be hired by the Clark County School District, one of the more than 3,000 new teachers launching their careers here that year.

But by the following summer, Orozco was finished. Conflicts with her principal left her exhausted and depressed. She says there was no help from upper management or the teachers union. So she quit, packed up her family and moved to a school district in Arizona.

The Clark County School District "needs to pay closer attention to why it is that so many of us leave," Orozco wrote in an e-mail to the Sun this week.

She's making less money in Arizona, but at least "I get respect and I am allowed to make a difference in my students," Orozco said.

Assembly Bill 459, which won unanimous support in an Assembly floor vote Friday, seeks to address grievances like Orozco's, which some of the legislation's supporters say are all too common.

The bill, nicknamed The Teachers' Bill of Rights and Protection Act, would restrict involuntary transfers and reassignments, and give teachers more opportunities to defend themselves when accused of misconduct or poor performance.

Additionally, school districts would be required to adopt and enforce policies prohibiting administrators from "committing any act that intimidates, abuses or mistreats teachers."

If a teacher were accused of improper conduct or performance, the bill would allow the individual to demand an investigation at district expense, including interviews of witnesses identified by the teacher.

The School District opposes much of the bill, as does the Nevada Association of School Administrators.

Ralph Cadwallader, executive director of the association, said the proposed legislation "appears to be a full employment bill for some attorneys."

The bill is "creating rights that are overreaching and will definitely hinder the process," said Jon Okazaki, assistant general counsel for the School District.

As required by state law, the labor contract between the district and the Clark County Education Association already covers most of the areas addressed in the bill, Okazaki said.

"We have, for many, many years, addressed all these issues and agreed upon procedures in the best interest of both parties," Okazaki said. "What's being done here in the bill seems to be coming from the outside."

Assemblyman Richard "Tick" Segerblom, D-Las Vegas, is the bill's lead sponsor. An employment rights attorney who has represented numerous teachers and support employees in suits against the Clark County School District, Segerblom said the bill will help reduce the teacher shortage by addressing problems that would otherwise cause teachers to leave .

Segerblom said the bill doesn't trump labor agreements, but rather fills in critical gaps.

The current agreement does not provide teachers with the "specific, detailed procedures and protections" the bill calls for, Segerblom said. The bill also allows districts and unions to adopt alternative grievance procedures.

"The arbitrary way teachers are treated has caused dissatisfaction and a loss of morale that is at least part ly responsible for the substantial loss of teachers," Segerblom said.

As of March, early applications to teach in Clark County for the 2007-08 school year were down more than 50 percent compared with the same time last year. The district expects to need about 3,000 new teachers by August.

In a districtwide survey last year, most teachers who sought transfers to new campuses blamed their principals.

"If people don't feel supported or feel there's a negative environment, they're not going to stay," said Terry Hickman, president of the Nevada State Education Association. "We believe this bill will help address that."

The union does not believe the bill will conflict with the current labor agreement, Hickman said.

During hearings, current and former teachers described being harassed, threatened and humiliated by their school site administrators. Las Vegas attorney Charles Thompson testified on behalf of his wife, an elementary school teacher, who was notified by her principal in a group e-mail that she was being reassigned to the third grade after more than 15 years of teaching first grade. The arbitrary reassignment was a veiled attempt by the principal to get rid of staff he didn't like, Thompson said.

"My goal is to change the culture, or we aren't going to have any teachers here," Thompson said.

While the School District opposes most of the bill, it has agreed to support certain provisions. To improve retention, district officials say they back creating an Office of Teacher Advocacy and School Climate - an amendment suggested by Assemblywomen Bonnie Parnell, D-Carson City, and Debbie Smith, D-Sparks.

Historically, the district loses about 30 percent to 40 percent of its new teachers within three years.

"Every teacher we can keep is one more we don't have to go out and hire all over again," said Martha Tittle, the district's chief human resources officer.

Teachers need an advocate beyond what's available through the union, Parnell said.

The teacher rights bill "is about recruitment and retention but, more importantly, about teachers feeling like they are being treated professionally," said Parnell, chairwoman of the Assembly Education Committee.