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By Paul Takahashi (contact) 
Published Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012 | 2 a.m.
Updated Sunday, Nov. 25, 2012 | 5:34 p.m.
The likelihood that students of color in Nevada will have a teacher who looks like them is among the lowest in the nation, according to a recent report. Even as Nevada’s student population becomes more ethnically diverse, the state’s teaching staff is still predominantly white. In the Clark County School District – which educates the majority of Nevada children – 70 percent of students are nonwhite while 76 percent of its licensed educators are white. In fact, Nevada’s “teacher diversity gap” is the second largest in the nation, surpassed only by California, according to an Education Week report released last ...
CORRECTION: Dwight Jones is the second black superintendent of the Clark County School District. Claude Perkins was the first. | (November 26, 2012)
The source of the "gap" lies within society and its values. Having an UNcertain future, diminishing support system, and the teaching profession under constant attack, are great barriers for ANYone who is considering entering the profession.
Stated in this article, "We need to do a better job of making the teaching profession interesting to more diverse teachers." Interesting? THAT is not the problem here.
When children are surrounded with sports stars, Hollywood celebrities, rappers screaming out their culture, and technology geniuses, why would they be attracted to the very demanding and low paying career of teaching? Here in the USA, you don't hear much about how valued teachers are anymore.
People make choices about their lifestyles, and for many, if not most, the routine and structure, time intensive lifestyle required in being a teacher simply isn't a good fit for them, and they find what does work and fit for their lifestyle.
Finding people who are qualified, passionate, and dedicated about teaching should be the only factor in hiring (in ANY career). It should not, nor ever be, about filling positions to balance out the race card. Equal opportunity exists based on qualifications, experiences, and the fire within a job candidate to do that job. More needs to be done about retaining those "irreplaceable teachers" that have diligently and faithfully performed their jobs, as evidenced in the Superintendent's Blog penned a month or two ago. It is long past time to show young people and the rest of the world that teachers and the profession, is valued and respected. Until the public feels that, few(minority or otherwise) will flock into teaching.
Blessings and Peace,
Star
I found this article disheartening. It seems like a shame that adults in the school district are focused on "color". How many students have been heard requesting that they get teachers of "color" or that look like them? My daughter, who is white, has had teachers of "color" and teachers who are white. She has bonded with both and has never come home saying she wished her teacher of "color" was white so they could relate better. She hugged and loved that teacher as much as any of her other teachers. I think it is the adults who are encouraging there to be a "color" issue/gap. If we need our students to be taught by teachers of only the same color, where will our white students go by the way? As it is, they are already the minority in the classroom? Does this mean we need an all white school? I don't believe it does. I don't think we should be figuring out ways to separate and point out the color differences. They can see the differences in their skin tone and I think that's as far as it needs to go. Beyond that, we are all people and our children are all in the same building hearing the same lessons. Isn't that equality? This article just sounded like it is heading towards segregation and diminishing the efforts of children of "color" and "white" children being able to be educated together by teachers of any skin tone. Sad.
Right on, Star. This article shows us just how dumb administrators are and how "politically correct." Despite the fact that for some 5 decades public school systems throughout the United States have failed in their mandate, to educate the students under their supervision, Staci Vesneske, the School District's human resources director, obsesses about a trivial matter. How about teaching kids how to read, write, add, subtract and multiply efficiently and correctly? How about teaching them useful and meaningful subjects that will better prepare them for life after school and S**Tcan the apcray such as "ethnic" studies and "gender" junk? What prospective employer gives a hoot about those irrelevant things when the applicant fails to fill out a job application correctly? We ought to be winding down the public school system with the eye to eliminating it entirely; not worrying about the "color" of the teacher. Little wonder public schools fail the needs of 50% of those who attend.
Thats right Nevada, the problem in our school system is that we don't have enough educators of color. This is the most ridiculous assesment I've read yet on our education issues. The fact that they think that children are better suited to learn from a teacher of color is ludicrous. If that is the case, then we are doomed to go back to the 60's and start society all over again. Another lame attempt to pass the buck on our failing school system. What will be next, more taxes to help minority people get a teaching degree?
Maslow, in his Hierarchy of Needs theory, posits that the highest level of need a human being struggles to fill is self-actualization. The struggle continues all through life. Some get close to it, and some cannot even get past the first stage of survival.
Many of us teachers feel that what we are doing is the closest we can get to that elusive strata. Recently however, that concept has become a mirage. Year after year, the fun in teaching has slowly been eroded by society, by the powers-that-be, and what is really heart-rending are former teachers who become administrators, who we hope to be our allies, forget who they once were.
Teacher Diversity Gap is the least of CCSD's problems. Attrition in the profession is - attracting and keeping excellent teachers - regardless of their color. Color disappears when children and teacher work together to make their shared dreams real. Somehow that vision has been blurred. Our efforts to make the vision clear for society and children are stymied at every turn, threatening our very own survival. That is why I am
ASadTeacher
Very well said Ms. Augustin. You should school Mr.Takahashi on what the REAL problems are in the school district.
Sounds like reverse discrimination. Guess it's OK when goes the other way, right? Think about it.
And herein, some of the major problems of the school system*: moronic prioritizing from on high, an administration that is out of touch with the real and urgent needs in the classroom (a teacher of any color would like to be able to get paper, for example), people who are just not that bright running the show, and political games trumping effective leadership.
*And it IS a system - a system in which teachers are basically voiceless.
I ALMOST feel like apologizing for being White ... I said ALMOST... this is getting more ridiculous by the minute. When will people stop looking at the color or a persons skin or listening to the sound (accent) of their voice and simply start accepting that we are all just PEOPLE... how simple is that to comprehend?
If there are not enough COMPETENT "teachers of color" applying for this job that few people would want or could handle (why would anyone of ANY color want to go into teaching?) then the district's prioritizing of this issue will lead to lowering the standards for those teachers.
Just what we do NOT need is to give priority to "teachers of color" by lowering the standards for them. But, mark my words, this is exactly what is going to happen if this district has decided this is a priority. Teachers, you will see new teachers coming who are not competent, but who are hired because they have "color" in their skin. You know this is how this district does things. It has identified this "need," and it will go after it. It does not provide the pay or working conditions to attract really smart teachers of color, so it will settle for anybody it can get.
The standards for all teachers here are too low as it is; but you watch: this district will lower them even further to bring "color" in.
I thought all of this politically correct "diversity training" that we've endured was suppose to make us "accepting" and "color blind" to all races, colors, and cultures that were different.
Obviously that tripe only applies to white people, everyone else should have teachers that "look like them".
Just another reason the school system is an abject failure, how about focusing on getting good teachers and stop the hand wringing about how many of which color there are???
CCSD could drop the requirements that teachers are legal residents and must speak english....then they would have thousands of eligible teachers of "color" they could hire.
@Teacher - it's ironic that just this morning, at the gas station where I stop for my morning coffee, we were discussing how it works when people can't meet the 'standards' required.... rather than making sure the people are better educated so that they CAN meet the standards the standards are simply lowered to a level that people CAN meet. This is a sad reflection on how people are NOT taking the value of a good education seriously at all :(
It is sad that liberals always need to make everything about color.
Sorry, I stopped reading after the phrase "students of color", what a ridiculous, silly, ignorant phrase.
End tenure and fire ineffective teachers. Hire more effective teachers--which will include those of any and every color, culture, outlook. SCOTUS is considering ELIMINATING discrimination in hiring--end the preferences for minority groups--so every new hire should make the grade of his/her own.
We all come from "diverse" backgrounds and many cultures. To segregate the workforce goes against the spirit of the Civil Rights Movement. We all interact bringing something to the table. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. reminded us to not judge a person by their color, but by the content of their character, in his "I Have a Dream" speech, saying,
"I have a dream that my four little children will one day live in a nation where they will not be judged by the color of their skin, but by the content of their character."
Martin Luther King, Jr.
Ultimately, we ALL bleed red. A hug from a child knows NO COLOR.
Blessings and Peace,
Star
"End tenure and fire ineffective teachers."
Roberta, You are a broken record... I'm curious; would you please explain to us what you believe "tenure" means, and if you can, support your opinion. In the words of Inigo Montoya, " I do not think it means what you think..."
"This is a huge concern and area of focus for us," said Staci Vesneske, the School District's human resources director. "It's a huge concern that in general we don't have enough teachers of color teaching our students."
Really staci?? is this REALLY such a huge concern given all of the challenges that schools and education face?
Or is it a manufactured "concern" by certain groups or individuals that are either promoting an agenda or trying to improve their own employment or economic security??
The schools should teach and PRACTICE equality and fairness .
BUT some schools are PROMOTING injustice and DISCRIMINATION of staff and most of all STUDENTS that have disability !!!!!!!!!
@Roslenda. I have asked this repeatedly, what does an "effective teacher" look like and how are they different from an "ineffective teacher"? The CCSD contract with CCEA has provisions for teachers to be removed. All that has to be done is the administrator follow the process outlined in the contract.
@Roslenda What if an effective teacher is fat? Should we not hire them? According to you the answer is no...
For the past 5 decades I have watched us go further and further down the tubes. We spend more on education and health care than ever, but have little to show for it.
Our value system is in the toilet as we encourage and allow entertainers and sports figures to earn millions while teachers, nurses, doctors, dentists, social workers, and others like them, earn comparitively little.
Family time together has been replaced by technology and pieces of garbage that take the place of actual human contact. Parents are way too busy buying their newest electronic toys, that 50K car, or million-dollar house, to be actually involved with their children on a daily basis.
We live in a media-spin and manure-tossing time. Everything we read about or hear about is a distraction from the factual world. Diversity, PC, "wars" on just about everything without results, and greed, blame, selfishness, and pure stupidity have taken the place of cooperation, compromise, common sense, and decency.
I grew up in the slums of Brooklyn, almost all East European Jews in my neighborhood. We had 50-60 kids in every class, no magic computers or cellphones, walked to almost everywhere, and real families that were lovingly involved with us in all of life's aspects. None of us had anything of material value, but were encouraged to educate ourselves and become something of value to society. Over 99% of us graduated high school and about 95% of us went on to college of some sort of vocational training. Going on welfare was a disgrace, so we ate cheap food, never ate out in restaurants, and used public transportation. Most of my friends did very well for themselves and tried to raise our kids with the same values that were instilled in us.
Now, everyone has someone else to blame for everything: dropout rate, poverty, crime, the economy, personal finances, your own health, and of course, the focus of this article, why minority children do poorly. Can't have anything to do with the fact of huge numbers of drug problems, single parent families, and cultural values that are in the trash. No sir, it's always the fault of _____ (fill in the blank). Glad I'm old.
I am minority teacher in CCSD and I have to say that this article offends me very much!! Let me just put it out there..... Minority students in CCSD aren't failing because of white teachers.... they are failing because they dont have real world application to basic subjects in school... It doesn't matter if you are a hispanic teacher or a white teacher.... The last time I checked 2+2=4!!! The problem is this entire city structure.... Why would any of our students want to pursue a real college education when their parents can make more money cleaning rooms at the MGM or being a dealer in a hotel which require little more than certification training... Even further.... Why would they want to build up student loan debt in college when they can dress in bikinis and beachwear to serve drinks at dayclubs making more money than 60% of the American population.... Just saying.... we cant expect our students to be motivated to learn until they see that high-skilled, high educated jobs are readily available in Southern Nevada.... Most other cities in America have major corporations and industries that make more money than the service industry.... We, as Las Vegans need to explore that option before we spend more money on programs to get them better educated. The system is fine, the options for employment after they graduate high school is the problem.....
It's always interesting to see who wants to make race an issue. And, Staci needs a real job.
Just a minor correction...I believe Claude Perkins, an African American, was the CCSD Superintendent from 1978-1981.
I took a vendor to a site tour at my former employer's company. He remarked on what a diverse workforce we had. It was diverse because we were not prejudiced. We didn't have any "diversity policy" because we didn't need it. Our workforce looked like the community around us, based on natural statistics.
If they fix the real problems at the school district, maybe they will find themselves with a larger pool of job candidates. It is silly to focus on the color of a person's skin.
Let's see, the basic premise was that students do better when they have teachers who are "like them."
If we make the assumption that this also applies to white children (and I would really love to see some mis-guided soul argue that white children are not included in the basic premise) then one conclusion that can be drawn is that children should only be taught by members of their own race, ethnicity or even gender.
Saying that there is a "diversity gap" that is causing harm to our students is tantamount to calling for full blown segregation when carried to its logical extreme.
Bob,
Curious's statement is made to correct the article. The author wrote that Dwight Jones was the first African American Superintendent of CCSD, when in fact, he is the second.
@boftx,
your statement requires a brain capable of processing logical thoughts.
Most public education is controlled by liberal and progressive thinking so your comments won't or can't make any sense to them.
That is also why so many problems continue to exist with minority student performance. The real factors have been deemed off limits for their p.c. bludgeoned brains, therefore they continue to grasp for ideas that have no chance to succeed since they don't address the real under lying issues.
The condition has metastasized through government at all levels the past few decades and will require radical surgery to remove.
This is the most ridiculous assertion by any human being in writing I have ever read!!!!! This just promotes more racial divisions. I'm comp,Evelyn lost? So are white kids who have teachers of " color " at a disadvantage!!!!! Maybe. These people think that kids should be segregated to have "like" colored teachers... I'd envision at the beginning of the year kids can fill out cards to request the " color " of the teacher. Who publishes this garbage. CCDs is a joke. A sick joke.
Is Clark County the only school district hurting right now? With nothing to compare CCSD to, as reported, it feels we have the worst teaching situation in the country.
Yep, I recall when students were assigned teachers of their own "diversity" by law -- has integration really gone too far?
: o
Greta Peay, director of the district's equity and diversity education department and her staff of 5 Diversity Experts deliver 10 presentations per month? A $313 per hour consultant?
This doesn't sound like a waste of money at all. How does anyone think that teachers are the problem with public education? Inept and corrupt Administration is the problem.
Can anything be done about this? I am really disturbed by this article and the idea that children of "color" need teachers of "color", and then obviously that means white children need white teachers. Again, the whole thing is disturbing to me. Is there a petition or someone to complain to? We are a military family and I'm very disappointed to be sending my children to schools in this district after reading this.
Why a terrible article, typical of the movement in this country to impose race over qualification. How can people preach that we shouldn't see color but write articles that ocus solely on race, kids don't care about color they care about good teachers. The biggest issue that needs to be addressed is he ineptitude of ccsd to attract good teachers because of poor pay and poor administrations. This article is a joke.
On second thought, there might be some truth to this story.
Many, if not most, women think that men are inferior to them in several ways. Could this be because most teachers are female and male children can't learn as well under those conditions?
On the other hand, there might be some evidence that women are not as smart as men, they do marry us. :)
Some people are missing the meaning of the basic premise here...
"It's not that children of color require instruction from teachers of color, Vesneske said. Rather, it's that schools and students of all backgrounds benefit when there is diversity among educators."
Hard to argue with that basic premise, really.
Of course a community's School District benefits if those that work there are a diverse bunch, somewhat resembling it's constituency, & that efforts are made to that end...
That said, if a DOLLAR FIGURE was placed right now on how much CCSD is paying to go out and 'recruit' teachers that fit our 'changing demographics' and to give 'diversity training' to it's current employees, the staggering amount is what boggles the mind and stretches credulity...
In example:
"In September 2011, the School Board -- despite facing a multimillion budget deficit -- approved $74,000 for multicultural training for about 350 teachers last school year. Zaner-Bloser, an education materials publisher, provided 18 days of professional development and materials, as well as a $313-an-hour consultant to deliver the training."
That's just a DROP IN THE BUCKET.
This is the kind of expenditure that, under the circumstances, lead people to say, 'No; I will NOT pay more dollars to CCSD to educate our children.'
When the priority shifts from getting dollars into the classroom...(especially in lean times) to spending on administrative prerogatives...(Often for sheer folly) this is the point where people say, 'it's not how much you have, it's what you do with what you get' that's the problem.
That leads to the false premise that the district is bloated with cash (or at least adequately funded) & that they're just 'wasting what we give em'.
That's a gross oversimplification... giving too much weight to a single part of the equation, which leads to a incorrect answer to the problem.
Smart administrators & Board members would recognize that.
This appears to be the most RACIST story I have ever read in the Sun. Its bad enough that the Gay and Liberal agenda is being forced upon our children, now you want want to push for a forced RACIST agenda.
Part 1 of 2:
INTENT of the law, specifically, the EOE law that the CCSD must try to comply with, is an issue. As Commenter Bob Realist noted, "Everyone is dumping on the HR Director but she needs to bring attention to this issue for she is following Federal Guidelines as far as hiring requirements are concerned. Hiring "Best Fit" and "Close Enough" are the common terms now used in hiring minorities. The HR Director truly cannot do anything about the hand she is dealt and it is sad the article pins this issue the way it did."
First and foremost, QUALIFICATIONS must be met by the standards used on ALL, or there is, in effect, discrimination. The intent of the EOE laws was to make sure this is happening. HOW citizens and organizations apply the EOE law is subject to debate. Las Vegas Sun journalist Paul Takahashi has opened a can of worms here. It is clear that the readers are quite sensitive about any form of discrimination. Hopefully, the CCSD has a committee drawn from the community/population it serves, to debate, discuss, and decide HOW to implement the EOE hiring law in the community. This should consist of citizens who have lived either in the community or state for at least ten years, those who have a very real and long-term stake in such decisions. Public schools are owned by the PUBLIC, not by corporations, and critical decisions should be made by those who are long-term stakeholders within that public. Some of the problems may lie in the fact that CCSD hires from outside the state and community, so there might be a conflict about stakeholder and values of the actualy long-term community.
What Paul Takahashi failed to expound upon, was the good work the CCSD Diversity and Equity Department has done most recently, towards addressing BULLYING. Certainly, bullying in any form, is unacceptable and very damaging. It is a fact, that individuals perform better academically and socially in the absence of bullying.
Blessings and Peace,
Star
Part 2 of 2:
Giving a SHOUT OUT: Many of the conferences hosted by the Diversity and Equity Department address the very needed education to be sensitive to such cultural issues that impact not only learning, but life. This is taxpayer dollars well spent, and does go straight into our classrooms and to our students(even their parents/guardians can access information and use the report a bullying event form), affecting positive outcomes.
The other issue in this equation deals with the values within the community, as I stated in my original post. Even the most qualified teacher in the world, cannot compete with sport stars, hip-hop/rappers and their counter culture, Hollywood celebrities, and technology geniuses. Attracting members of our community into the principled, structured, routine, demanding, and time intensive career of teaching is challenging, to say the least.
In this country, the teaching profession is not respected, nor valued enough to support financially or be involved with as a citizen or parent. Teachers here usually see and get parental support in kindergarten and first grades, after that, rarely. I have encountered more teachers from outside the USA who have come here and taught, only to decide that students here are "too disrespectful" and they rather work at WalMart or a resort, than deal with the attitudes they face in the classrooms here. They once were used to comply with EOE through work VISAS, and the majority have since left, so go figure.
See for yourself, visit your neighborhood school, and ask the question if there appears to be a "teacher diversity gap" that is adversely affecting those students. While there, please consider volunteering some time for the school or the PTA, your presence makes a world in difference for those students. Thank you.
Blessings and Peace,
Star
It doesn't say we just need more diversity, it says we need people of "color" to teach students of "color, so they will understand their cultural background. Diversity would be a white teacher teaching a student of color. A student of color would learn to experience relating to people that are diverse from themselves and thus setting themselves up to be able to work with a diverse group as adults.
Furthermore, I feel like people who are offended (such as myself), would and do embrace diversity and people of all colors on the staff. I think the problematic part is that the district feels it important to match students of color to teachers of color and that they feel the need to count how many people of each color are teaching, rather than the qualifications and teaching skills of their candidates being the sole determination of who they hire. In addition, if it is that important to have students of color with teachers of color, they should not forget their "white" students and then who do they best learn from? Again, I am fine with my white daughter learning from a teacher of color. She has had teachers of color and they have been wonderful and she loved them dearly. It's all about the individual teacher.
Most readers with an interest in education and the future might be surprised to read of the early demise of the pteropoda...
Scientists have been watching these species deteriorate from the souring, the acidification, of the sea as a result of increased carbon dioxide from our combustion.
When we lose a sensitive species, a keystone species, the loss of this critter may seem inconsequential until we see how our lives WERE dependent on understanding what we were doing.
Let's hear it for not paying attention to the world we live in. Let's just keep plodding along screwing the place up and ignoring diversity, ignoring the fading screaming howls of our fellow creatures in our paradise lost.
PS Happy Thanksgiving!
Really interesting to read the comments on this story. Almost everyone seems to agree that these types of "concerns" are distracting from the major, real problems in the district. These are the types of programs that need to be eliminated for now. The article said that they have 10 "cultural sensitivity" workshops per month. I'd like to see how that compares to the number of workshops that focus on effectively teaching the core subjects.
Another example of the district being a top-heavy, bureaucratic wasteland. This is the type of system that takes a good, ambitious teacher and just beats them down over time until they lose all of the passion that they had when they started.
How about treating teachers with respect and dignity instead of blaming them for all that is wrong with education? Take at look at the average age of teachers in CCSD, in Nevada and in the US. It is increasing. As more and more teachers retire, who is going to replace them? How many people will go into teaching seeing how they are treated?
Most readers of this Sun do NOT believe that combustion impacts progeny.
Unless and until we get our heads around our paradise and our diversity that is its signature, we will keep on missing the lesson of our ways.
Okay boys and girls, today we are going to see how our trail of carbon dioxide has poisoned the oceans.
Once upon a time the sea was rich with critters comprising a food chain.
then folks got lazy and started burning carbon stuff.
Now we see that the sea gets sour from CO2; critters die off. The critters that once fed upon those missing critters now die off.
So it's time to look around and diversify, or say bye-bye.
In reply to Commenter ImproveLV's query, "The article said that they have 10 "cultural sensitivity" workshops per month. I'd like to see how that compares to the number of workshops that focus on effectively teaching the core subjects," please permit me to respond.
If a citizen could view the CCSD Interact Pathlore (the district's online communication system within the district), you would be absolutely awestruck at the multitude of comprehensive courses, seminars, and workshops that are available to not only teachers and administrators, but ALL workers! Dare I say, that few, if any, other school districts in our whole nation, have such an incredible selection of professional development offerings! If only those on the outside could see...they would be amazed and convinced that CCSD strives to not only keep everyone current on the best practices, but they have OPPORTUNITIES to share what they know works, can use these classes towards advancement on the ladders of positions or payscale, and most of all, keep educators all fired up about the great things they are doing that is right and getting the positive outcomes that prepare and "ready students for exit"!
There is so much going on, that it can be very hard to choose. Rest assured, CORE subjects are addressed far more in number at any given time than the Equity and Diversity offerings. If you attend any of these, you can immediately use what you learned, and see improvements straight across the board. Not only are there CCSD expert trainings, but there are offerings partnered with local universities, VegasPBS, and more.
I can't say enough positives about the excellent and even superb job, CCSD does on their lazer-like focus towards improvement. The proof is seeing for yourself.
Blessings and Peace,
Star
Here's the link to a story about the pteropods being acidified in our oceans today.
The carbon dioxide in the air changes the chemistry of the ocean and the little sea butterflies die. Then there's nothing for the fish to grow up on.
http://www.fis.com/fis/worldnews/worldne...
Diversity is important in our little universe, that little blue ball in the big black sky, all alone.