[TristramShandy]

Hi guys, I'm checking in from San Diego.

My wife and I are taking stock on what we're going to do next in our lives, and we're planning to make a decision in the next year. Our son is four and we'd like to be somewhere where we'll stay for awhile once he gets into Kindergarten.

Anyway, my wife is a teacher and I am an adjunct college professor who could possibly drop down into high school teaching without much problem.

My wife was telling me that on the school job site she frequents, there are pages and pages of job postings for Las Vegas schools looking for teachers, more so than any other city in the Mountain Time Zone moving west.

From your knowledge or opinion, why is this? What is it about Las Vegas that doesn't attract teachers? Any insight would be appreciated!

[yellowsnow]

Not the best pay. Schools are poorly funded and class size is large. There is a huge problem with children who do not speak English as well. Perhaps the biggest issue is wages are low here and full time work with benefits is hard to find. Many low wage workers need multiple part time jobs to make ends meet. This means not enough time to spend with the kids to even try to supervise their education. The kids raise the kids and they are shuffled around from one relative to another. Much of the work here is shift work/odd hours and elementary age kids who are at Walmart at midnight are not going to be ready to go to school and learn at 8AM.

Plus Clark County doesn't have a reputation for treating teachers well either. Just a couple years ago they were laying off. Most of the teachers I know have given up and moved on to do something else. Teaching here is a tough job.

[cre8lite]

this was in yesterdays newspaper

Sandoval signs bill so noncitizens can teach in Nevada | Las Vegas Review-Journal

[ticking]

Looks like the starting pay in Las Vegas is around 40K. That isn't too bad considering that the cost of living isn't too high. I'm surprised there are THAT MANY unfilled teaching jobs.

EDIT: Actually starting pay appears to be around 35K

[TristramShandy]

Originally Posted by yellowsnow

Not the best pay. Schools are poorly funded and class size is large. There is a huge problem with children who do not speak English as well. Perhaps the biggest issue is wages are low here and full time work with benefits is hard to find. Many low wage workers need multiple part time jobs to make ends meet. This means not enough time to spend with the kids to even try to supervise their education. The kids raise the kids and they are shuffled around from one relative to another. Much of the work here is shift work/odd hours and elementary age kids who are at Walmart at midnight are not going to be ready to go to school and learn at 8AM.

Plus Clark County doesn't have a reputation for treating teachers well either. Just a couple years ago they were laying off. Most of the teachers I know have given up and moved on to do something else. Teaching here is a tough job.

I was wondering myself if a lot of those were the cases, especially the transitory nature of families going through Las Vegas and perhaps if that affected the classroom experience. Usually when needs are not being met that is a commentary on something in the city itself. Thank you for the perspective - - I would appreciate any others as well.

[Buzz123]

Another reason is that it is still growing. Weren't they supposed to be building more schools again this year? It's the 5th largest school district in the U.S. For over 20 years we had to build about 30 schools a year to keep up with the growth. And just because there was a downturn doesn't mean we have stopped growing.

I've also heard from "teachers" from other states that they would be required to take some more classes in order to teach here. Some of them can't understand why they come here expecting to get a job teaching, only to find they aren't qualified. After all, they could teach in a one room school in Broken Bridge, GA, couldn't they?

Then, keep in mind that a lot of them would be teaching children who think English should be their second language instead of their first. Not counting other languages, of which there are a about 100 in Las Vegas, Hispanic speaking people make up more than 30% of the population.

Then there is always the impression that Las Vegas is the Hollywood version, instead of the reality of it being more normal than Podunk, and a lot of teachers (and other people) are afraid to come here for fear of being turned to salt or something.

I don't know why anyone would subject themselves to teach anyway, after the weirdness you see these days coming from parents. You should hear the stories I get from teachers I know. Plus, you have kids who need to be in Special Ed in the same class as the brainiacs holding everyone else back. And, besides the teacher, they have to have their own baby sitter at all times. The world of education has gone completely nuts...and it's not just here...it's everywhere the Feds are involved. Oh, that's everywhere now isn't it?

[Caltovegas]

How many people graduate college per year and people don't want to teach? Why? It's got to be money. Considering industry benefits from teaching kids why not have all industries supplement teachers pay?

There's no reason to turn to noncitizens.

[usnftcret]

If they meet all the CCSD requirements, Why not?

[Buzz123]

On CH-8 today: CCSD trying to fill nearly 2,600 teaching spots in 3 months - 8 News NOW

[orca17]

Salaries are better elsewhere, and depending upon the school you may spend time that should be spent teaching course material going over remedial English.