Facebook
Fark
Digg
Reddit
Stumble
Local second-grade teacher Daniel Avellino works his second job as an actor in the Las Vegas Mob Experience at the Tropicana on Wednesday, June 8, 2011.
By Paul Takahashi (contact) 
Published Thursday, June 9, 2011 | 2 a.m.
Updated Thursday, June 9, 2011 | 6:54 p.m.
Map of Aggie Roberts
Aggie Roberts
227 Charter Oak St., Henderson
Related story
Sun coverage
Sun archives
- School District to hang on to 1,000 teachers, maintain class sizes (6-8-2011)
- School Board OKs budget with at least 1,834 layoffs (5-18-2011)
- State budget windfall could prevent School District layoffs (5-3-2011)
- Tentative schools budget includes 2,500 layoffs, pay cuts, larger classes (3-25-2011)
- Assembly passes bill to use reserves for school construction (3-3-2011)
- Regent says it’s time that K-12 shares in budget sacrifice (2-8-2011)
- Education in forefront of upcoming budget battle (1-30-2011)
- School officials warn of jobs cuts, larger classes under proposed budget (1-26-2011)
- A steep climb for Nevadans (1-26-2011)
- Soft words during State of the State hide Nevada in pain (1-25-2011)
- Teachers not pleased with most of Sandoval’s speech (1-25-2011)
- In response, Democrats say taxes might be part of budget solution (1-24-2011)
By day, Daniel Avellino teaches math and reading to 20 students in his second-grade class at Roberts Elementary School in Henderson.
By night, the 31-year-old is an actor at the Las Vegas Mob Experience, playing the role of a casino security guard who “beats up” alleged card cheaters in front of hundreds of tourists.
Avellino is one of a number of Clark County School District teachers who have taken up second jobs to make ends meet as the district tries to figure out how to plug a projected $150 million budget deficit next year.
“Last year, pay freeze. This year, a cut in pay. I don’t want to stick around to see what happens next year,” he said as the nine-month school year winds to an end today.
Armed with a master’s degree in elementary education, the Buffalo, N.Y., native moved to the Las Vegas Valley five years ago to pursue his teaching career. Then, Las Vegas was a boomtown, and like many institutions, the School District was experiencing growing pains.
The influx of thousands of new students necessitated more classrooms and staff, so the School District built more schools and hired young, passionate teachers such as Avellino.
“I love teaching,” he said. “I like to keep it fun and creative, so I get a little silly in the classroom … When (students) see you care about them, they’ll do all the assignments, anything.”
But the economy tanked, and Avellino became one of more than 1,000 School District teachers who were “surplused” in March to plug a projected $407 million budget deficit. Teachers whose positions were eliminated at schools where there was an excess might be hired at other schools in the district, however “it’s basically the luck of the draw,” he said.
“I knew there were massive cuts on their way, but I thought I was in jeopardy of getting a pay cut, not losing my position. I thought I was safe from harm,” he said. “I’m completely in limbo, which makes it very difficult to stay motivated to teach.”
Although additional state funding allocated last weekend staved off teacher layoffs, Avellino was still worried about proposed teacher concessions to fill the budget gap, including a 2.5 percent pay cut, freezing salary increases and passing along pension costs.
It couldn’t have come at a worse time. Avellino has $50,000 in student loans to pay back and more than $10,000 in credit card debt.
“Any disposable income I may have had has completely evaporated, and now they want to cut my pay,” said Avellino, who makes a little less than $45,000 a year as a teacher. “You can see my dilemma here: Do I stay here and do what I love to do and end up $500 in the negative each month, or do I quit and move back home?”
In December, Avellino applied to the Mob Experience at the Tropicana, working the ticket counter and acting out various roles such as an FBI agent, Irish cop, Big Leo’s soldier and warehouse gangster.
“I thought it would be an interesting job,” Avellino said. “I didn’t want to work at Wal-Mart, bar tend or anything like that. I wanted to do something that was more Vegas-esque … and have fun doing it.”
The gig brings in about $1,000 to $1,500 each month — enough to give Avellino “some breathing room,” he said.
“Without this job, I’d be starving,” he said.
Over time, Avellino hopes to turn his second job into a full-time career. He recently took another acting job playing Tony in “Tony ’n Tina’s Wedding” at Planet Hollywood, and is starting to look for an agent.
“I definitely don’t see myself in the classroom two years from now,” he said. “I chose to teach because I’m good at it, and I love it. But it’s like any job. If you’re not being treated right, you go somewhere else where they would appreciate you.”
Holding down three jobs and working more than 80 hours, six days a week comes at a price. The stress from “basically performing from 9 in the morning to 10 at night” and the lack of sleep has exacerbated Avellino’s headaches stemming from his sports-related concussions as a child, he said.
However, acting is fast becoming his second passion.
“It’s almost to the point where when people ask me what I do, I don’t say teacher anymore,” he said. “You’re embarrassed to say you’re a teacher.
“It’s heartbreaking. I feel like I’m being forced out of this position, but you can only take so much. You have to say enough is enough.”
In my experiences with schools, many of the best ones had to give it up also. They moved to considerably more lucrative positions and used their considerable talents in planning and presenting information to make progress in other areas besides teaching little ones
Few have regretted the move. Many have questioned why they had wasted the years they spent trying to raise children of broken homes and discarded culture - kids who had very little going for them, but who had ended up in their classroom.
Walking away from the schoolhouse was a new beginning, the start on a new life where the control over one's future was more earnest and personal and less dependent on the whim of disinterested principals, vagrant transients, political winds or family strife within the community.
The problem will remain, however. Who will be left to show the children how to learn, how to grow and how to become what they might?
The good teachers can not stay in abusive and neglected positions with no pay, no support and no respect. Vegas hates teachers; read this newspaper - you'll see.
Teaching provides a living wage but its not a wealth-generating profession and most teachers know this. When I turned 17 years old I got a job at a golf course in the pro shop and my high school coach in the summer would take a summer job mowing grass on the golf course. I knew then it was not a high paying profession. Still, $44,000 to $49,000 is a living wage unless one is living beyond his means. we can talk income all we want but its the life style and the associated costs that put the squeeze on a personal budget and this happens at every income level.
Teaching no longer provides a living wage. Making $45,000 a year does not qualify one for a home mortgage when one carries $10,000 in credit card debyt, a car payment and school loans of $40,000 to $90,000. What can ya buy in Vegas for $30,000??
Working an extra hjob or two on nights and weekends in order to perform your chosen life work doesn't sustain the soul. teachers are not all saints.
There was time and some places where teachers were respected for their contributions to our society. here and now they are spat on and lied about. People here are angry with them because the teachers spend their summer getting their licensure maintained and their lesson plans in order.
i must disagree with ringofire about the notion of living wage on the grounds that teachers spend as much as they make on their educations and licensure maintenance. they spend their off-hours grading papers, making lesson plans, meeting with parents, admin, probation officers and providing tutoring and counseling, mentoring and sharing planning with others.
Do you call that a life if after all this they can't buy a house, eat a steak, or even think about vacations?
It's a vow of poverty to take a teaching job here, one that comes with locals despising you and disrespecting everything ya stand for? Why would anyone ever even think about coming to Vegas to teach ? ? It's like trying to sell dog-poop on a stick to millionaire vacationers on the Riviera?
I have never thought of my job as 'taking a vow of poverty' although my income ceiling is limited. I did not, however, realize how so many people would blame me for every ill of society.
Nevada just keeps adding itself to the bottom of lists.
When new graduates are shopping for teaching jobs, they will soon notice the low pay and disrespect given to Nevada teachers and not even consider applying here.
Airweave pretty much said it all.
Teachers spend out of their pockets for their students, to maintain quality instructional delivery, and to motivate students. It would be great if parents would stop by and ask teachers what they could use in their classrooms, what could be donated to them for the students. That just about NEVER happens. How about them apples, folks?
My wife is a teacher.
She will "graduate" 33 Kindergartners today, during
a ceremony where nearly every parent will attend, and receive a BOOK of their children's yearly stuff, complete with photos, letters by the parents, the kids, and "teacher", to be saved for posterity. And, they get a certificate.
She goes to work @ 6:30 am, and get's home around 6:30pm.
After dinner, she works til' midnight or so (this week; it's been 1-1:30am every night, getting the "books" ready).
She does get paid an extra bit for teaching the "After School" program; but a big chunk of the extra dough goes to the Feds.
"Extra" jobs???
My God... if there were time, she might even try it, but it would probably kill her. Though it WOULD help to offset some of the costs associated with being a K-teacher @CCSD.
The question is, who will be to blame when low-morale teachers come to work and unintentionally teach your kids a lesser education?
Jessie:
No one I know went into the profession to be rich. I lost 10 grand from my previous salary when I went into teaching. I thought I could make more of a difference by being in administration, but the person with whom I worked made the job unbearable and the constraints were infinitely restrictive. And, I missed teaching children so I went back and didn't at all regret losing almost 20 grand. I have always been poor and I never knew how it is to have money to spare. What you don't know you won't miss, I guess. (I only wish I could see the green of Ireland and the rolling hills of Scotland before I die. Oh well.)
The point is: Nobody advocates for children anymore. Not the government, not the community, heck not even most parents. WE ARE IT. If not us, who will? What would the future be like if we abandoned teaching?
@airweare I don't know about you but I could live very well on $45,000 a year. I make $24,960 a year and by the time you take out insurance, taxes, etc it is just barely enough t survive on. I don't feel sorry for teachers who make only "$45,000", grow up and cut up the credit cards and tighten your budget some.
I'm sorry but if they think it is so hard to make it on 45k a year they should try and make it on 25k a year. They need to remember just one thing they are lucky to be working. I have a guy I use to work with who felt that he was not getting paid what he was worth and would not do parts of the job because he was not making what he felt he was worth and when it came time to lay somebody off guess who was laid off he was.
So to teachers grow up and suck it up and stop whining and crying. When you live paycheck to paycheck making 25k a year then you will have the right to cry and moan and groan. That is just my opinion and mine alone.
@Dave - Everyone has insurance, taxes, etc. take from their check. No one is able to take home their full salary. I am sure your $24,960 a years not that far off from what I made my first year teaching after deductions. Even the $45,000 you covet does not go straight into the teacher's pocket or that of someone in any other profession.
I teach and I work a second job. It is a choice I made because I wanted to eliminate debt and purchase a home. I think the sad statement is that teachers holding second jobs is not new and uncommon. When was the last time you heard about a _______ (fill that blank with the name of a profession that requires the same amount of education as teaching) with a second job? I truly think it is a sad statement about our values as a society.
Dave,
I am betting you did not have to to spend $60K on your education to hold down that $25k a year job that you have either.
Just because you did not further yourself in life is no reason to kick on those that did.
I am also betting you don't spend at least 10% of your own money you make on the kids so you can teach them. Seems parents these days don't think their kids need school supplies. You know, pencils, paper, Etc.
"I work for peanuts; and I LIKE IT!"
"Teachers don't deserve decent pay OR my respect."
"BLAH, BLAH, BLAH."
This is EXACTLY the kind of ignorant rhetoric that is KILLING education in Las Vegas, Nevada, and many other areas of our country.
"Corporate America don't pay me nothin'! I don't get no benefits; why should you? I din't go to skool, so why should I care that you DID and have student loans to pay off?"
"I'm makin' 25K, and I'm survivin' fine! I practically LIVE at the Dollar Store, and LOVE Hamburger Helper!"
Wow, dude....good for you, man! Alright! You are livin' large in Las Vegas, my man!
American's want a World Class Education for their kids on the WalMart Plan...
Low wages, no benefits, part-time employment, and the threat of dismissal at any moment...
Good luck with that, America!!!
Dave Butcher, your attitude and resentment are part of the problem in this country. You didn't want to spend the money to get an education, so you resent those who did and try to make their lives better. And don't say you "couldn't get the money." I was raised in poverty, my mother couldn't help me at all because she was so poor, but I worked 2 jobs in the summer to pay my fall tuition (I didn't attend a ridiculously expensive college), then worked 20-30 hours/week while attending school full time to pay my living expenses, and took out a small loan for my winter tuition each year. I'm not asking for sympathy either, just stating a fact. I thought it was worth it to get my education. I'm a second-year teacher, but I'm not going to stay with CCSD either. I think they are worst of all, treating teachers with complete contempt--we're just pawns on a chessboard, to be used in their political games. I'm moving on to a different job...
"I'll take the Steak & Lobster, please...
but I'll only pay for a Cheeseburger."
gmag
Instead of sitting on your duff and belly aching because your wife isn't making enough money to support you in the lifestyle you think she owes you why not get a job and assist her with a paycheck?
It wouldn't hurt if you made supper for her when she is putting in those 16 hour days either it just might makea better [not bitter] homelife for both of you.
In this day and age there are very few jobs where one wage earner can be expected to maintain a nice lifestyle for a family of X.
Get off the computer and 'man up'before the little woman figures out how the cure her headache without using asprin!
As usual, Americans want something for nothing. Teachers and professors do not enter the profession to make big money (unless they go for the top-level administrative jobs), but for some reason (could it be the Republican party's hatred for people who earn a living?), many Americans think all of us should work for nothing or next-to-nothing and be grateful for the opportunity to deal with unhelpful parents and administrators. I can absorb a pay cut. Can beginning teachers and professors? No. And the percentage of their cut is the same amount as those administrators who generally just make their lives miserable.
Dave,
25k might sound sufficient to you, but try to raise a family or plan a career on that amount. I often buy my own paper and other classroom supplies so I can provide my students with the knowledge they need to be successful. I also have spent thousands maintaining my license and earning advanced degrees to make me a better teacher. I want my students to have every opportunity to achieve their dreams.
The teachers I know did not join the education profession to get rich, most simply enjoy giving back to the society that gave them so much. It's getting harder and harder to stay in education and I've been at it for over 22 years.
Please open your mind to the concept of adequately funding education.
Paying teachers a cost-of-living adjusted salary of $60,000 to $90,000 to teach children reading, writing, math, science, history, government and phys-ed just seems high. I understand teachers want more money, who doesn't? Its not about disrespecting teachers, its just that the job is not all that difficult. I dated a teacher for 3 years so I know the job is not as difficult or time-consuming as its made out to be plus she would ask parents for student supply money at the beginning of the school year so the out-of-pocket costs for her salary was not high at all.
RefNV: First off, asking the parents for supply money is a no-no according to the CCSD. Teachers may provide a "wish list" of things that parents may donate (should they choose), but teachers are not allowed to ask for money or tell the kids they have to bring certain supplies in.
As to your teacher friend, sounds like he/she wasn't one of the good ones because it is impossible to get the job done in the contracted hours.
@ShannonK- My teacher friend worked in another state where I use to live, not Nevada.
60,000 to 90,000 is a wage any professional with a master's degree should make. Extend the school year to 12 months with vacations and justify paying teachers a professional wage. Extending the school year will allow more time for math and science, as well as liberal arts and physical education, and relieve some childcare and work-leave expenses from families. Increase standards and expectations along with the extended school year and make U.S. competitive with worldwide education standards.
I would have thought people are smart enough to consider life circumstances before making life changing decisions.
For exmample if you are making $45k, how did you plan on supporting a family? How did you plan on buying a home? car? paying off school loans? or how did you even justify running up a credit card debt of $10k? I would have thought people planned their life with some sense of financial responsility or stability.
I'm making $90k and I know I'm not financially stable yet to start a family or buy a $250k home. And if I did, I sure wouldn't be asking my boss to support my life style which I can't afford whether I'm compensated fairly or not.
@Airweare- A teacher's personal debt load(car loans, student loans, credit card debt, mortgage, etc)is their responsibility. My premise is that teaching provides a living wage but its not a wealth-generating profession and most teachers know this. The median household income in the U.S. is $50K per year so $44K-$49K is not poverty level income as you suggest.
Teaching, at every level in NV, has become a vocation rather than a profession. There's just no incentive, financially or in terms of how much vitriol is directed at teachers, to treat it as a profession. I can't say I blame the man featured in the story for no longer wanting to describe himself as a teacher. And given the recent budget cuts, it's only going to get worse with more K-12 teachers and university professors opting - quite deliberately - to distance themselves from the profession. Why should teachers and profs do the same amount of work while their pay is being slashed left and right?
pmmart...
For God's sake man...
What gave you the idea I didn't WORK?
I have a full-time job, you ninny...and have for the past 42 years.
THINK before you hit that "post comment" button, dude.
...and if you asked my wife, she'd tell you straight up; I do ALL THE HOUSEWORK in my home.
Get a clue, brother!
@RefNV...
"Paying teachers a cost-of-living adjusted salary of $60,000 to $90,000 to teach children reading, writing, math, science, history, government and phys-ed just seems high."
What are you talking about?
I do not know one single teacher who makes the LOW END of your "cost-of-living adjusted salary.
...of course, some DO make the LOW end... I just don't know any.
The notion that teachers should "know in advance they're getting into a poor paying field", and "they oughta DEAL with it!" is Horsehockey.
If you want a WORLD CLASS EDUCATION for your urchins, you must PAY FOR IT.
@gmag39- The income bracket of $60,000 to $90,000 is the next bracket above $30,000 to $59,999. In my opinion, adjusting teacher's income upward to include a premium to pay for teacher's personal debt(student loan, mortgage and credit card debt) past and present as Airweare suggests seems too high a price to pay to teach children reading, writing, math, science, history, government and phys-ed. I'm not asking my company to pay me extra to cover my personal debt.
@gmag39- I disagree. If your going to choose a career you should at least have a general idea of the pay scale, especially if your spending 4-5 years earning a degree for it. To me, that seems logical.
RefNV: Teachers go into it knowing what the pay and benefits are going to be. Unfortunately, they start getting told, nope, no COLA for you. You get to pay more for your health care. You get to pay for your retirement. Now they are trying to take away the salary advancements for obtaining extra education/degrees.
According to RefNV, NO ONE get's paid extra for the fact they have an EDUCATION.
Where did he dream that up???
Now, I simply must go to work, lest PM Mart accuses me further of sitting on my duff all day playing on the computer while my wife earns "all the money"...
When one of you is a teacher, the udder has to have a gig to pay the bills!
gmag39-We just differ. As ASadTeacher stated above "No one I know went into the profession to be rich". So it seems to me most teachers have a general idea what the pay scale is in their profession.
@ShannonK:
"Teachers go into it knowing what the pay and benefits are going to be. Unfortunately, they start getting told, nope, no COLA for you. You get to pay more for your health care. You get to pay for your retirement. Now they are trying to take away the salary advancements for obtaining extra education/degrees."
This is a challenge faced by every working american. Just because you are a teacher, you are not entitled to suck out more public funds to avoid the facts.
Let me clarify this: I did not go into teaching to get rich. Okay? That means I know I won't get paid like a CEO.
What I am trying to tell the public is: Why do teachers' pay and benefits have to be the target? The public keep saying 'share the pain," but not everybody is sharing. Only the little people are hurting, teachers being one of them.
If everybody thinks that teacher pay is so good, and that the work is only "part-time", why are we having so much trouble finding teachers? I would think that people would be beating down the door to get our "good gigs." Especially now, with unemployment so high in Vegas.
How much of today's social and government funding/revenue problems result from the change in emphasis in the classroom back in the 70s? Remember, many of today's voters were being taught their values since then and those values are reflected in current policy.
I know teachers like Dan. Good teachers who bring a lot of talent to the profession. A profession our present Governor does not value much. Dan will move on and be a great actor. But how many lives will not be affected by him now...in a positive way? Cutting out Tenure? cutting jobs? People have their values on Sports and entertainment....which is why Dan has to go there. I will NEVER vote for Sandoval again...big mistake.
Education in the U.S. and in vegas especially is a joke. We need reform and we need improvement and it starts with the caliber of our teachers.
I can understand keeping their pay increases in check, maybe even freezing it for awhile. We are afterall in a recession and they do have the entire summer off that they could look for at least part time/temporary work.
But to now start cutting the pay of those that we are simultaneously demanding more from?
I have no dog in this fight, so trust me when i say that it is just simply not pragmatic.
Every action has an equal and opposite reaction. Garbage in/garbage out.
When we make cuts to education we are showing off our priorities.
Let the rich, greedy little mining and gaming executives figure out how they are going to fix the mess that they and the real estate and construction anf financial markets around here created.
Trust me, despite what their lobbyists may tell you, they will always be there with their fat little greedy hand held out wanting more.
They won't be going away anytime soon. The few qualified teachers we have on hand however...
"I have no dog in this fight," - olbuddy
Yes, you do. The children being educated today will be voting tomorrow. The children who fail today will be on welfare tomorrow.
Everyone benefits from public education, whether they have children or not.
What a Pitty!!!! My son was one of Mr. Avellino's students this year and to say he was outstanding is an understatement. We can all recall one or two teachers in our lives that didn't only teach but made a significant impact on our lives and I can tell you Mr. Avellino did that for my son. On the way home from School today my son wept because he said "He only wants to have Mr. Avellino as his teacher."
Mr. Avellino will be successful in whatever he decides to do, I am sure of that.
Thanks for being a great teacher, mentor and role model!
@vegaslee HOW DARE you ASSUME I did not further myself. that is all that I am going to say to you here.
@DrJoeP I realize that you and all teachers have to purchase your supplies, and so do a lot of other careers. I work as a Maint Tech for a property management company and as of today I have six thousand dollars wrapped up in my tools, this year alone I will spend close to two thousand dollars, if not more, on tools alone. Plus I have to purchase my own uniforms and work cloths, I have to pay for my own gas in the middle of the night to respond to a clogged toilet that some residents clog themselves so that they can flood their apartment in hopes of getting their carpet cleaned. Or what about spending three dollars plus a gallon on gas to respond to a stopped up kitchen sink only to get there and find that the sink is not clogged they just said that because they forgot to call in for light bulbs for their kitchen.
Or what about the occasion dinner out for the family that you have to get up from to go and deal with the power being off in an apartment because some kids thought it would be funny to flip the main power breaker on the side of the building.
Three months ago I had my tool bag stolen from the shop at a complex I worked at. I love over six hundred dollars worth of tools and I am still having to take a chunk of each pay check to replace those tools, and do you know who broke into the shop a bunch of teenagers. One of them was caught by complex security and you know what that girl did, she laughed and said so what, and her mother went ballistic on the police for even talking to her sweet innocent daughter.
And let not forget about coming home with bedbugs and having to replace half the furniture in the house because of them, and spend a couple thousand dollars to get them taken care of. Just because the resident would not contact the complex office about them.
My issue is not with teachers but with people who make 45k + a year and who cry that they just can't make it on that. People should think before they cry at their wages that there are people who are unemployed and trying to make on 375 a week, and there are people who work just as hard if not harder everyday for a lot less. And just so you know I had a career for many years as both career and volunteer that people in this town hate and I am paying the ultimate price for doing what I love, my eyesight. I have been told that I will be blind by the time I am 60.
I never thought I'd see the day when someone making nearly $50,000 would claim they're at the poverty line. Its shameful.
@ boftx
I agree...I think I may have misrepresented myself...
What I meant by not having a dog in the fight was that I feel I am being 100% objective. I have no dog in the politics or the emotion of it. I dont hate teachers but I am not overly or selfishly pro-teacher because I am not a teacher nor am I close to anyone who is.
I have a stake in education as any other american but I have no direct stake in teachers pay per se one way or the other...
That sort of thing
@gmag there is nothing wrong with making 25k a year. AT LEAST I AM WORKING AND AT LEAST I AM MAKING AN HONEST WAGE EVERYDAY.
To everybody I have no issue with teachers, firefighters, police officers, nurses, and those that work with children, the sick, etc. MY ONLY ISSUE IS WITH THOSE THAT COMPLAIN PUBLICALLY THAT THEY HAVE A HARD TIME MAKING IT ON 45K A YEAR. When there are those out there that make it on a heck of a lot less every year. What about those seniors that survive some how on 11k and are happy with what they get from social security. What about the man who worked all of his life and gets 803 dollars a month from social security and another 130 a month from the VA. Or what about the person who made 65k a year working for Walmart as a manager and who now gets 9k a year in social security.
They survive and are happy to get every dime they get. Do I begrudge teacher, NO I DON'T, do i get angry at those that complain that they cannot make it on 45k a year when there are those of us that make it on a heck of a lot less, HECK yes I do.
I am sorry if I offended any of the teachers out there. And just so you know if it was on the ballot to raise taxes to help the schools I would vote yes in a heart beat. Because I do want our children and future leaders to have it better than I did when I went to school. And by the way my hat does go off to teachers.
@gmag no I don't live high on the hog in Las Vegas but with the economy the way it is I am making less and I am not complaining because I am happy to be working. I have a lot of respect for our teachers because there is noway I could do what they do for a living but on the other hand there is noway half the teachers could do what I do for a living.
It makes me sick when I hear somebody who makes 20k a year more than I do who complains that they can't make it and that their disposable income is just not there. Yes teachers spent two to four thousand a year in supplies but you know what so do a lot of other careers. And yes my insurance costs are going up and yes I have not had a COLA raise mater of a fact when I got laid off earlier this year and was offered a job that paid 4600 dollars less a year and I jumped on it so that I could be a productive member of society. Not one of those that cry about the illegals and who refuse to take a job a few dollars less an hour because it is below them.
And by the way if I could do the profession that I trained to do when I was many years younger I would be making 60 to 90 k a year. And that is one that MANY AND I MEAN MANY PUT DOWN DAILY IN THIS AREA. And I can't do that profession anymore so I do what I have to help my family to survive.
I never said I was bitter, many years ago I had a career that paid more than what teachers are making and the only reason I am not working in that career is because I am going blind due to injuries to my eyes performing that career. I was both a career and volunteer firefighter so please do not put me down for saying that I think teachers should suck it up. Where I fought fires at I made 49k a year in a smaller Midwestern city. My family and I made it on that. In today's economy those that complain that they can't make it on 45k a year should look around and look at those that are not working at those families that are homeless, at those that refuse to take a job that pays $12 dollars an hour because they use to make $22 an hour. I use to make a couple of years ago $18 and now I'm making $12 an hour.
I do it because at least I am working and at least I am trying to be a productive member of society.
@Megara7 I want to break down your comment and make a couple of comments and tell you my side. Especially since you claim I am resentful and angry.
1. "your attitude and resentment are part of the problem in this country."-----I am not resentful or have a bad attitude. I just feel that those that make 45k a year should not complain when there are those out there that work very hard everyday for a lot less.
2. "You didn't want to spend the money to get an education, so you resent those who did and try to make their lives better."---I had my paramedics license and have an Associates degree in Arts with a major in Fire Science (aka firefighting degree needed to reach the ranks above firefighter). So yes I did spend money on education. My degree is worthless since due to injuries I can no longer make what I use to, and no I am not bitter, resentful, and no I do not have a "attitude problem". I am being realistic.
3. "I'm not asking for sympathy either, just stating a fact. I thought it was worth it to get my education. I'm a second-year teacher, but I'm not going to stay with CCSD either. I think they are worst of all, treating teachers with complete contempt--we're just pawns on a chessboard, to be used in their political games. I'm moving on to a different job..."---You may not be asking for sympathy but they guy who teaches twenty student and works as an actor at the mob experience at the trop sure in the heck is especially complaining that he cannot make it. And I am glad you are not going to stay with CCSD because if you are the best that the Clark County School District has to offer than our children are in big trouble.
I want to say this to everybody and I want to say it load and clear. I DO NOT HAVE AN ISSUE WITH OUR TEACHERS, I THINK THEY SHOULD MAKE A LOT MORE THAN THEY DO. AND I WOULD LIKE TO SAY SOMETHING THAT I HAVE SAID ALREADY IN ANOTHER POST. I WOULD VOTE FOR ANY MEASURE ON THE BALLOT THAT WOULD HELP THE SCHOOL DISTRICT, STUDENTS, AND TEACHERS. PLAIN AND SIMPLE. COME TO MY DOOR AND ASK ME TO SIGN A PETITION TO PROTECT THE SCHOOLS AND I WOULD SIGN IT. ASK ME TO PAY MORE IN TAXES AND I WOULD. ASK ME TO PAY A STATE INCOME TAX THAT WOULD GO FOR PUBLIC SAFETY AND EDUCATION AND I WOULD ANY DAY. I WOULD IN A NEW YORK SECOND.
I just don't like those that complain that they cannot make it on 45k a year when there are those that are forced to make it on a lot less such as those that worked all their lives and now get 803 a month from social security and 130 from the VA. And the fact that there are so many that are out of work and making it on unemployment and those that are disabled and that make it on a lot less. When you live on SS benefits or disability benefits then you have a right to complain.
el_diablo_loco aka Dave Butcher...
The point I was trying to make is about the teacher situation. You need to understand something important about their situation. They are actually quite talented people, most of them!
And many need to borrow money to get through school and so they run up a student loan debt. And then they need a car to get around so they run up more debt. do you see how their drive to teach makes them poor? They land a job in say vegas and earn $35000 a year though they were the top of their class.
So here's the point I was trying to make: owing $75000 for student loan, owing another $10000 on a used car and only making $35000 or $40000 does not QUALIFY them to buy a house. So they rent, and this bad situation only gets worse. They do not grow equity, but rather fall behind financially because the $550 a week they bring home barely covers the rent, car, student loan and utility bill. They barely can afford a school lunch.
But they're Teachers and they buy their kids pencils, books, etc and make posters and wall decorations and celebrate accomplishments for the students they teach, but they can not buy a home, pay their bills or eat.
This is the reality of teacher life. In a parallel universe, the non-teacher makes $25000 from day one out of high school and saves because he can. He has no debt for student loans. His $400 a week covers everything and provides a surplus for savings. He buys a house and pays cash for his car. He gets to eat, and his equity grows over time.
twenty years later, teacher has Masters degree and still rents has nothing but job pays $45000 which is gobbled up in wasted rent, car payments and credit cards to cover the times when stuff breaks; other guy, the non-teacher, owns house, cars, BBQ and enjoys his rib-eyes medium rare and has no debt.
Teachers bargain for their pay package that includes low wage but long-term benefits, especiallt retirement. now folks have whittled away at what the teachers bargained for including medical when they retire. A deal is no longer quite a deal; they begin Welshing on the benefits. Result: teacher screwed again. You got the picture? You're better off!
As a guy who taught off and on in high school, college and universities, I walked away from the schoolhouse, built some houses, rebuilt some others, developed some stuff and carved out a life unrelated to schoolhouse. The dough is way better, but something more important - autonomy. I drive my own ship. No self-important principal runs his crap down my throat.
I deal with the universe on its own terms with no school board or department chair or anything but the way things truly are and i find it far more satisfying along with the money that could have been there all the time if i had walked earlier. Good night.
airweare,
I call bullsh!t. There is no way in hell you can say that anything you have done is more rewarding than helping a student realize that there is so much more to learn and giving them the desire and ability to learn it.
By the way, I'll back that statement up.
I received a phone call just a couple of months ago from a person I hired a few years ago. He moved on to a new company last year, and he called to thank me for teaching him new ways to look at programming, how to find new ways to identify the objective. That was one of the most satisfying moments I've had in a long time.
I should mention that he is the same age I am, in fact, a month older.
I'm still glad that more colossal education cuts are coming. I just paid a huge amount in Calif. property and income taxes. So if tuition TRIPLES at UNLV and UCLA, then that's fine with me.
You little people are arguing with each other. You are arguing about pennies and dimes.
You are fighting the wrong enemy. That is exactly what they want. Band together and fight the greed of corporate America.
boftx,
If it happened more frequently, I would have never left the classroom. And when I returned, I opted back in only to work with the rejects, the kicked-out, knocked up and principal punchers, the homeless street kids with all kinds of issues and one common denominator - heart.
They gave me a rainbow. They learned how to learn, discovered how to know and many for the first time how to write in their primary language. I wept like a baby the day of the results from the Nevada State Writing Proficiency Exam; my homeless waifs enjoyed a 100% pass rate. Every single abandoned shameful, scared, proud and damaged little reject had crossed the finish line and earned stars and glory for their meager souls.
And you're right about one thing, it AIN'T the money that drives teachers to teach; it is the sense of liberation from ignorance, the conquest of the mind over matter, the mountain climbing, the intrigue of opening doors, the intense joy of watching the dawning and the beaming light within the human spirit fill what was once a dark void.
But within a corrupt system, my friend, the teachers' joys are whacked by obtuse in-bred admin and failed policy from bought-out policy makers. The system is failing bcause it's no longer about the learning; it's about maintaining a failed paradigm.
I dared no longer stay, so I blossomed and bloomed and ...am having the time of my LI..ife...and i owe it all to homeless kids raising their hands and blurting answers, proud and defiant, bold and cock-sure.
And I'll back it up with this story.
"And this room is so COLD, we just shut it off and closed the door!"
With that info I hopped into the attic, duckwalked the joists and discovered first the odor from the aromatic piles, then the screen hanging down from the attic fan, and finally the ripped-apart flex ducts over the cold room where the raccoon family had nested and enjoyed their new shelter.
When I told the homeowners about their relatives in the attic, they guffawed and called a handyman. When he told me his planned fix over the phone, i explained that stapling the screen was just wrong because it's the back side of the roof. i told him i would make brackets to hold the screen from the side by attaching to the rafters. he could not picture it.
I went home and fabricted the simple angle bracktes and reappeared, delivered the brackets and went on to my next 'sick house' for further discoveries.
Nnext day, boftx, I got the call. Homeowner says, "Joe, he liked your brackets. He installed them, and they worked perfectly."
That one call totally made my day worth the effort. No, boftx, it ain't the money; it's the satisfaction of discovering and sharing for the right reason.
Read between the lines. $50,000 in student loans and doesn't want to pay back the American taxpayer. Is college worth it when you are NOT likely to work in a professional job in your major field? lvsreader: Nice to see an intelligent post here. Yes, extend the school year AND the school day. Put teachers on FULL TIME AND YEAR ROUND WITHOUT PAY INCREASES. The rest of us work 2080 hours a year, let's get teachers IN THE CLASS ROOMS for 220 days times 8 hours a day leaving the balance for vacations and sick leave. Let's concentrate on the students, not the teachers desires for lavish lifestyles at the ripe old age of 31.
Read between the lines. Whatever Rosie smokes on her Friday afternoon doesn't smell like fish, does it??
" Put teachers on FULL TIME AND YEAR ROUND WITHOUT PAY INCREASES."
The problem here is that teachers already put in easily 2400 hours a year (in the 9 months of school)as it is with seven and a half hour days at school and another twenty or so off the clock in preparation, grading, meetings with parents,IEP meetings, etc. for an average year load of 2200 - 2500 for the typical teacher. With the licensure maintenance, another pile of money goes out the door and another handful of hours for which they are not compensated.
And then the question - "Is it worth it when one is steered away from the classroom experience by reduced pay, huge classes of children with all kinds of issues - is it worth it to become a teacher??
Answer above
Especially in Nevada where the home life has seldom prepared the children with school-ready backgrounds in Reading, Learning or Math, the value of a good teacher and the experience of turning around the lives of destitute feral children who, like young roseanrose - the poster child of abuse and neglect - could become contributing members of society, the answer is a resounding 'hell yes!' It's worth it, not in monetary terms because teachers don't make squat especially per hour. Take home pay for first year teachers is monthly around $2100 for 250 hours a month of stressful work for an hourly wage of less than $9...for a certified, credentialed teacher with a BA.
But we're not talking about money here; we're addressing worth. The experience of turning on the human spirit where none glows does indeed pay back our society and the poorly compensated teacher manifold.
But does teaching pay the bills as the point of this story addresses?? Of course not. Especially here in Nevada, we devalue learning. That's why we graduate fewer than half our kids. They arrive mostly unprepared for school, never having a reading background, with zero math skill, many with near zero English language skills and few with the respect for learning that takes time to develop.
Look at pitiful rosie. In her animosity and antipathy towards teachers in particular and education in general, she insults and undervalues understanding, attacks acculturation and would lower the take-home pay to sub-minimum wage for the ones who would build the roads into the future and bring light where there is only darkness, instill beauty where ugliness reigns, find new beginnings in dead ends and discover water in the desert wasteland of Nevada's uneducated children.
PS. That additional twenty or so hours is on a weelky basis making lesson plans, grading, developing formative assessments, individualized instruction, differentiating learning tasks and evaluative tools, meeting with parents, calling parents, emailing probation officers,, etc.
Though it seems like a long week, and it truly is, the amazing thing about good teachers is that they choose to do it in order to empower their little ones to achieve mastery and find in themselves the strengths that were dormant, the powers that were asleep and the potentials to become the leaders and engineers of a better world. The sixty or so hours fly by without complaint or compensation.
Yes, it sucks but welcome to the club. I have a grad degree and couldnt find work in Las Vegas after my business evaporated. I had to take a job in DC, making a whooping 53,000. Try supporting yourself in DC and a family of of three kids and a wife in Vegas (at least until school is over and I can move them here) It is ugly out there but I am not crying for a guy making 57,000-63,000 a year (who judging from the article isn't married and doesn't have kids to support, I assume they would have mentioned it for impact if he did) and says he cant make it in Vegas. Vegas is dirt cheap compared to most large metro areas. A guy without a family should be able to live EASY on that.
@roseanrose. I will ask the question again. If you think teachers have such a good deal, why aren't you a teacher?
@AIRWEARE, if you would have read my comments you would see I have nothing against them they just need to stop crying about only making 45k a year because there are plenty of people out there that survive on a lot less than 45k a year. But I guess they don't count, just the teachers who spend time grading papers, etc. But there again I am just a person who did nothing more with most of their life than try and help others who were in trouble.
Teaching is not for everybody. Otherwise those who complained and would be happy with teachers' salary would have been teaching. Right? Why aren't you, if you think teachers' salary is HUGE!
Because you have to go to college! And, not everyone is college material. You said the college of education is where students, who don't have the "abilities" to go into engineering or medicine or business, go. Fine. If you think the college of education is so easy, why don't you try it? Remember the salary would be HUGE. Why aren't you flocking the college of education?
You think teaching is so easy and you can pick any Tom, Dick, and Harry off the street to teach?
Tom, Dick, or Harry has to have a license before they can go inside the classroom to teach! That license expires in three to four years and before it is renewed, they have to take more courses!
Wait a minute, ADDTIONAL DEGREES according to one NPRI shill, even Bill Gates the almighty himself said, additional degrees dont make teachers more effective! So why are they required to take more courses just to renew their license to go inside the classroom?
I won't tell you what and who are inside the classroom. You have to discover it for youselves. What do you think, Tom,or Dick, or Harry? Wanna try?
Yo loco davio,
I DID read your stuff. here are 5 good reasons:
#1) Teachers have to pay for their education in order to even be considered for a job for $35,000 today in Vegas. Most run up a significant pile of debt in their gamble. And many, most actually, drop out of teaching in the first 5 years with big debts still on them.
#2) They spend 8 hours in school and roughly 3-6 hours preparing for the next day, piling up in the ball park of 220 days of 12 hour days, all in nine months with no overtime. (~2600 hrs)
#3) Then they have to pay out of their already shrunk paycheck (remember those student loans?) to maintain their license. More time and money going out and nothing but status quo or in Vegas nowadays, for less money and more work.
#4) Most are better qualified than your average bear. Those who walk away and find a niche elsewhere do WAAY better than most. I did and still do, even though I'm way up in my 60s.
#5) Society demands them to be quasi saints. i knew a principal who gambled and lost the house. then th school board got wind and threw her away. Had she been just a carpenter or sales pro, nobody would have these high standards. teachers can't fart when they need to.
Yes I know $45,000 LOOKS like more, but is it when they:
a) pay more taxes
b) pay off student loans
c) put up with lunatic principals, pissy kids, wacko parents, goofy situations, disrespect constantly, etc
d)work their butts off for no overtime so they can spend their savings on maintaining their license to do it all over again??
Answer, yes if they love it, but no if life its ownself is more important. i did it both ways so i am a great judge and my answer, personally, is do it both ways so you'll know! money is way better outside the schoolhouse. So is the right to fart! So is not having to put up with bozos. But the fun is helping little bozos see they can be somebody.
Roseanrose has gone on record as stating on this very rag that she comes into classrooms after the kids leave. She likely pushes the broom and wipes the boards.
She has stated that she has worked in hundreds of classrooms in 'post-secondary' education - indicating that after high school kids leave, she gets to do her deal.
I have known quite a few 'post secondary' education types in my life as a teacher type and they were usually quite kind, understanding and forgiving. The rose is anything but.
Likely her own 'childhood of abuse and neglect' as she describes it, has had its impact on her ability to appreciate what teachers do for the community. So of course, I can understand and forgive her mean-spirited comments and antagonistic attitude, her devaluing of culture and her belittling the developmental stages kids go through, you know, normal kids who have loving parents and a chance at becoming somebody.
What I have learned from the comments she makes is how important love and respect are in the growing up stages. Look at her meanness splattering these pages, day after angry day. Parents, be good to those little scamps. We sure don't need any more rosies, do we??
@ ASadTeacher Nancy Agustin...
"You little people are arguing with each other. You are arguing about pennies and dimes.
You are fighting the wrong enemy. That is exactly what they want. Band together and fight the greed of corporate America."
Nancy, truer words were never spoken.
We have been pitted against one another by the 2 percenter's who are laughing all the way to the bank.
Them Corporate Greedster's have had us for lunch.
The ruination of the Middle-Class and all this anti-union nonsense? Guess WHO?
Corporate America. We must act now!
@gmag and Nancy A:
It's called 'Divide and Conquer'- this corporatist tactic of creating feuds to distract our energies so the walk to the bank is an easy one. PRG does it all day, picking fights, calling names, splitting factions, inventing red herrings, citing snippets and purposely dislodging logic in order to infuriate and so create cover for the mass rip-off of cultured response.
It's a shenanigan, an intended distraction, to play group of middle class against group, upper lower against lower middle, etc so the peons can have at least a chance to air their opinions and to contribute to the obfuscating fray while those at the top benefit from every shot fired.
By denying ourselves the impulsive responses and then focusing on the big picture, we can recognize the short shrift we are given - our kids suffer and our culture crumbles, but theirs is the kingdom of private elitism, the private schooling, the well-positioned real estate, the ownership of our futures,etc. while we struggle with higher electric rates that starve us out, lousy schools that ruin our potential for development, flagging wages and diminished opportunity.
From a distance, the outpacing by the 2 percenters is astounding - 40% ownership of wealth and 30% of income by the 2%, most of it neatly stashed offshore.
Owning the mouthpieces we elect through 'citizens united' further enables them to purchase the seats at the tables of power down the road through 'corporate contribution' as they are termed - the wholesale purchase of voting booths to promulgate their agendas and ice the cake of class conquest.