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Thursday, Sept. 2, 2010 | 8:14 p.m.
Walt Rulffes
Sun coverage
The Clark County School Board, taking advantage of new federal jobs money, voted unanimously Thursday to approve a plan to keep or create more than 900 jobs, including 500 teachers, in the schools.
Hiring could start “oh, 7 or 8 o’clock tomorrow morning,” Superintendent Walt Rulffes told the board.
Congress last month approved $10 billion in aid to states to save or create education jobs this school year.
Nevada gets about $83 million in federal money with about two-thirds of that, or $54 million, going to Clark County.
Deanna Wright, a school board member, noted the federal money is a one-year reprieve and there is no guarantee of a second year of funding. “But I want to do as much as we can as long as we can,” she said.
Board member Larry Mason said, “This money could save a family.”
Even with the 900 additional jobs, Rulffes said, “it’s pretty thin on a per-school basis.” More than 1,000 positions have been lost in recent years, he said.
Principals will largely determine where the jobs will go. Board members urged each principal to report explicitly what they do with federal funds.
Rulffes recommended on Aug. 26 to spend the federal money and more to restore or create 920 positions for $57.7 million. The largest part, 55 percent, or nearly $32 million, would pay for 500 teachers.
About $13.5 million will go for 300 clerical and support staff positions cut in recent years. The rest will go for 60 administrative positions, such as assistant principals and deans. Some administrators returned to teaching because of cutbacks.
The district is the fifth largest in the country, with about 310,000 students in 357 schools.
Rulffes said last week the supply of teachers far exceeds demand. “We have hundreds of teachers who are now applying for jobs that we don’t have right now,” he said.
“That’s quite a turnaround from two or three years ago when we were recruiting all over the world trying to find teachers to come to Las Vegas,” he said.
The district already has hired about 430 new teachers for the school year, but it still has a few other openings, mostly in the hard-to-fill subjects of math, science and special education.
Officials expect to have about 309,126 students this year, a 350-student decrease from last school year.
CORRECTION: This story originally reported the money would go to 120 administrative positions, such as assistant principals and deans, but the correct number is 60. The change has been made in the story. | (September 3, 2010)
Let's see 900 jobs John Ensign did not vote for and Sharron Angle calls another Harry Reid lie and also would not have voted for - and would have eliminated the department overseeing the program. When are our elected politicians - regardless of party affiliation going to realize they need to work together to resolve our financial crisis? Great work school district on getting this done quickly!
I would say they are hiring about 419 clerical, support and other admin positions too many.
Yes, boftx, hiring the spoiled unemployed is a sin.
There is no need to add anymore admin jobs. There are already too many. Go to any school and especially the ed. shed and they are not missed. School Admin. are already overpaid for the work they do. Has anybody ever been to a school in June or August when school is not in session. You will rarely see any admin working.
Well no wonder the schools are in such bad shape. The members of the School Board can't read. Otherwise, they would have learned this from today's top story.
"There has also been an increase in one-way bus tickets out of Las Vegas."
Nearly 20,000 Nevada Drivers Licences surrendered this summer.
The migration out of Clark County exceeded the migration in by more than 1,000 per/month.
On Aug. 7, The Sun reported the disctrict saw a "flattening of student enrollment (has)curbed hiring."
And that the district only needed to hire "230 or so teachers."
Since school started I assume those 230 positions were filled, yet we suddenly need 500 more teachers?
What a difference three weeks made. Were they wrong then or are they wrong now?
This is just welfare with a a job title.
No, hiring the unemployed is not a sin. Hiring admin positions while parents have to buy glue, scissors and crayons so the schools have basic supplies is. Hiring admin positions when schools are cutting music classes and sports programs for lack of equipment is. Hiring admin positions when schools can't afford microscopes or drafting tables is!
I thought the school year had already started. So if classes are good to go then what are they going to do with the extra teachers. I just dont get it. Have they been working for free fo the past week or are they going to shift everything back to 12 month schools and make the class sizes smaller.
"20,000 Nevada Drivers Licenses surrendered this summer"??? What? Who does that? "I'm leaving the state, so I think I'll go stand in line for 2 hours at the DMV to surrender my license".
I'm pretty sure that means licenses surrendered at the DMV, which happens when a person moves here and wants a Nevada license which was previously happening at a 5-6,000 per month clip, but that doesn't fit within your desire to spew gloom and doom.
The loss of a 1,000 people a month does sound about right though, as a certain segment chases employment and obviously we've come down off the mountain there. This economic downturn has been awful here in Nevada... why do so many posters here seem to revel in it?
You surrender your old DL in the new state. That state returns the old licenses, or at least reports the ones surrendered to the issuing state.
I teach in the district so I can offer some input. First, adding admin isn't a bad thing as long as we add school based admin and not central. My school has 1300 students with only 3 administrators and 2 campus monitors. We need at least 1 more admin to help with supervision. I'd actually rather have 2 more campus monitors as opposed to more admin, but supervision is poor at best and it creates a safety issue. Second, when teachers are added at a school, say a middle school, it created more sections to put kids in. The good thing that happens is class sizes decrease and that is good for kids. The bad thing is that in order to fill the new teachers class they have to take kids from other classes, which means mass schedule changes and that is bad for kids. Overall more money is a good thing. I know I could use some relief from my 80 student PE class I currently have.
BBallFan,
I am not unsympathetic to your position, but as a parent (of too many) with two children still in school (4th and 6th grades, one of which is deaf) I have a very had time accepting the need for more admin staff when I am asked to buy such basic supplies as glue and crayons for use in the classroom.
Maybe I was spoiled when I was in school. I recall that the school supplied all the paper and pencils and other such stuff when I was in grade school. Today, I have to supply all of those things for my child.
I can understand the need for books, desks, microscopes, TV's, computers, but NOT admin staff to help my children learn.
As for teachers such as yourself, I want to have some means to know that you are doing your job and hold you accountable if you are not, just as my employer would do with me.
By the way, I have a small nit to pick. Teachers often say that they want more parent involvement. I understand this and agree it is needed. That said, why do schools schedule an open house for 5PM?!? How many parents do you think are off work in time to go to that? I recall those being schedules at 7PM when I was a child so both parents could easily attend.
If it makes it a little easier, yeah I'm going to the .99 cent store or Goodwill to get my child the supplies they need. I'm gonna bitch and complain about it, but I'm taking my @$$ to the .99 or Goodwill just the same. My child is that important...
The open house time is nonsense if you ask me. As far as buying supplies goes I do agree that the school should supply the vast majority of them. Its tough to decide what is needed more when talking about supplies and admin. My argument isn't necessarily for more admin, but simply more adult supervision. Like I said, in a school of over 1300 6th through 8th grade kids a mere 3 admin and 2 campus monitors supervising the courtyard isn't adequate and is a liability for the district. Some schools have more students and therefore more adults, some less and fewer. In my opinion a school with fewer supplies that provides a safe environment is preferable to a school with lots of supplies and an environment that isn't as safe. If you are wondering what I'm talking about go on campus at your 6th grade students school and walk around between classes. you would be surprised what you see.
Comment removed by moderator. Off-topic.
On the topic of accountability I would love if there were a fair way to accomplish this. This is not a reality unfortunately. How do you hold a teacher accountable for student achievement when we have zero control over what these kids do the 23 hours a day they are not in our classroom. They are at home much more than they are with us and the reality is that there is much more parents can do than teachers to encourage achievement. I know there are variables in all jobs that effect outcomes, but the dynamics involved in education are completely unique. I'm all for being accountable, but how do you do it?
I have no doubt what I would see if I were to walk around any schoolyard. I'd see all the things I did and a bit more. And I assure you my teachers never knew everything that happened though I have no doubt now that they suspected it. :)
Safety is a big consideration, no one should argue that.
Very good, Now maybe the ones that get hired can buy one of the new houses being built at Mountains Edge.
I'll grant that school conditions today are vastly different than what I experienced as a student. (I entered kindergarten in 1958.) I spent all but one year in the Los Angeles school district.
Looking at the differences that I can see, I'd think that some sort of classroom score could be assigned based on class size, student family situation, relative income, native language and parent involvement (based upon phone or in-person conference participation). These factors could be weighted, along with test scores, to give some idea of how effective a teacher is.
I wouldn't expect a teacher with a difficult classroom environment to have the same number of outstanding students as a teacher with what should be an ideal classroom. I certainly noticed a difference in how teachers handled students as I progressed through school.
One thing I do recall though, almost all my teachers identified those students who made a real effort and who could reach maximum potential with extra attention and gave it to them in some way. And it didn't matter if maximum potential was a "C" or an "A+".
I think we could come up with some kind of performance standard if the relevant factors were accounted for. But I also think we need to drop the concept of "social promotion" and hold students accountable as well to make it work.
This seems like a situation of "We have money so let's go hire someone" vs "What do we need to do in order to survive?". Has anyone figured out what they're going to do next year when this one time stimulus money is gone or are they just "hoping" something else will change. Whomever said "Failing to plan is planning to fail" had this in mind.
boftx is right.
A sensible approach to merit pay certainly needs a factor for climate, but the whole idea is flawed in one regard: kids are different. Jake didn't get numbers until he was three; Andy could punctuate sentences at five; Angela could square two-digit numbers ending in five when she was seven - all because we played math and word games.
How many kids get excited over challenges anymore? Naah, they got TOYS. They don't need brains anymore.
Motivation is difficult to quantify; it changes from teacher to teacher, class to class, year to year.
And Motivation is the prime factor in acquiring new skills, understandings and outlooks. So merit pay will fail until we can quantify the teacher skill known as fire-building, engendering or self-acquiescing. The teacher as catalyst, as perspectivizer, as mentor, guide, match defies point systems, but I'm certain there's a way to measure impact, resolve and dedication, although I'm certain most teachers would be worm food before the kids realized who planted that steam engine in their dream.
Thank you Gibbons for helping reduce class sizes. Oh wait nevermind, thank your wife.
The issue here is whether jobs were saved. The answer is yes. Should we reform schools? Oddly, many of the people unhappy here look like they will vote for Brian Sandoval, whose solution is simply to cut and gut education, as opposed to Rory Reid, who wants to revamp the system that they so dislike. Meanwhile, they are unhappy that Harry Reid did his job as a U.S. senator (as he has for four terms) by delivering for Nevada. I believe the term is cognitive dissonance.
The very real threat of being held back for a year or more was a strong motivator back in the day. No one wanted that stigma. Did it damage some kids? Probably, but I would love to see a study on how many kids that were held back wound up in jail versus how many "social promotions" wind up in jail. I'd be willing to bet that the latter outnumber the former on a percentage basis.
Tired of hearing these whiny lazy parents about spending a couple of bucks to help the school aquire some supplies so their children might receive a better education.
And then they cry about too many admins. Meanwhile they expect the world from CCSD. They want their kids fed 3 meals by the district, clothed by the district. They drop their kids off at 7am and pick them up at 7pm....day-care by the district. Well you need admins to provide all these services.
This is why my kids go to a private school. All the parents are committed to the kids education. AT ANY COST.
You gotta love the bumper sticker: "My public school brat can beat the crap out of your private school snob"
It's not the "couple of bucks" we spend on some supplies, but the idea behind it. Every dollar that goes to administration/clerical staff (especially raises) is one less dollar that is spent on supplies and equipment that directly benefit the students.
All too often it feels like school districts in general, and CCSD in particular, put their desires ahead of the needs of the students.