Exacerbating a shortage

Piling more mandates on teachers

Despite national recruiting efforts, the Clark County School District has in recent years struggled to fill open teaching positions. It’s not unusual for the district to begin a school year with hundreds of vacancies.

The issue also touches communities throughout the state. A 2017 report from the U.S. Department of Education identified dozens of subject areas and specialties in which Nevada lacked an adequate supply of instructors.

Retention no doubt plays a role. A 2017 Review-journal analysis found that 16 percent of the teachers who began in Clark County during the 2015-16 school calendar left the district within a year. Though turnover rates are high for new entrants in many professions — and large, urban school districts are particularly susceptible to staff movement — the district needs to do better.

But why would lawmakers exacerbate the problem by piling more bureaucratic requirements on educators?

The Review-journal’s Meghin Delaney reports that as many as 900 Nevada teachers — many in Clark County — may be at risk of losing their licenses because they have yet to complete a semester-long class on “family engagement.” Those who fail to pass the requirement — imposed by lawmakers in 2015 — will lose their jobs.

The cost of taking the instruction — which must be done through an approved college-level program — can exceed $1,000. Some teachers told Ms. Delaney that they might consider relocating to states with fewer mandates on licensed educators.

“Do you move for a place where there’s going to be provisions on your license and where you have to do additional coursework,” asked Andre Long, the chief human resources officer for the Clark County School District, “or somewhere where it’s going to be clear?”

Certainly, “family engagement” is part of a teacher’s job. Whether it needs to be the subject of a stand-alone, threemonth pedagogical class is another matter.

The root causes of teacher shortages and retention issues are many — unnecessary bureaucratic barriers, a socialized wage structure that rewards mediocrity at the expense of accomplishment, the inability to impose discipline in the classroom and a lack of mentoring, to name a few. Out-ofstate candidates may also be turned off by Clark County’s lackluster student achievement levels.

Nevada has taken steps over the years to increase pay and make it easier for experienced instructors to take a job here. It has also created paths to alternative licensure that allow professionals to transition into teaching.

But clearly there’s much more work to be done.

The views expressed above are those of the Las Vegas Review-journal. All other opinions expressed on the Opinion and Commentary pages are those of the individual artist or author indicated. As many as 900 Nevada teachers may be at risk of losing their licenses

The Review-journal welcomes letters to the editor. Letters should not exceed 275 words and must include the writer’s name, mailing address and phone number. Submissions may be edited and become the property of the Review-journal.

Email letters@reviewjournal.com Mail Letters to the Editor

P.O. Box 70

Las Vegas, NV 89125

Fax 702-383-4676 fund. Those wage packages damn near bankrupted the county in 2010 during the financial crash.

The points that are thrown out at Mr. Sisolak read like a descriptor for a perfect candidate to run the state. His perfect score of 100 percent from the NRA, his fiscal responsibility and the fact that he’s not seeking endorsements from states and politicos 3,000 miles away speak volumes.

It’s Ms. Giunchigliani who must be feared. Thanks to her leftist agenda, the people of New York are just tickled pink to support her. Don’t be fooled into supporting someone who values New Yorkers and their money over Nevadans. make-work project.

It is not water under the bridge, because with consumer awareness and complaints to the district about how our money and water are being wasted, positive change will happen.