[Everdeen]

I parted ways with the union years ago. Their politics are far to polarized for me and, at times, they can behave like thugs. But on the issue of pay increases for education credits, I sided with them.

There are a lot of problems with our school district. Money is spent very unwisely. If there had been a true deficit, then I would be siding with the district on the issue of pay increases. As a classroom teacher, I have no more pull in district spending policy than my dog does (in fact, he may have more). The community must make detailed demands.

A few years ago, the district sent out a survey to the community detailing the school budget and asking the community in which areas they wished the district to cut. Most people in Las Vegas understand that our district is top heavy with high-paid administrators and quasi-administrators at the headquarters. It was requested, overwhelmingly, that the district cut administration. Well, cut they did...at the school level where they are needed the most. They threw in a few off-site administrators too, but a very disproportionate amount.

There are many "teachers" who cannot stand the classroom anymore (the hardest job in the district) who have juiced themselves out of the classroom into one of the thousands of quasi-admin jobs. They are still classified as teachers, though, and reported as such to the public by the district. The public needs to demand to know the number of full-time, classroom teachers.

Do you know that there are 5 staff development days embedded in the school years at a cost of $8 million dollars each? They are positively useless and I have yet to meet the teacher who finds a justifiable value in them.

I could go on and on, but I doubt that anyone really wants to hear it. The thing the community must do, though, is demand a detailed budget - and I mean detailed - from the district. In an organization this large, they are able to camouflage a lot of the cronyism and poor spending decisions.

[mizk6y]

I am currently residing in Hawaii and is considering a move to las Vegas. I will be entering my fourth year as a teacher here and currently hold a bachelors in education for k-6 general education and special education.

Can someone please give me some insights as far as where are the best places to live, ideal schools to teach and an ideal school to send my daughter to.

I appreciate all the feedback and comments as it will definitely help my future plans.

[fluffypuppy]

Seriously yellowsnow? I taught for CCSD for the last 6 years. While there is a huge population of ESL students, they are usually the hardest working and the kiddos that want to learn. The curriculum and classes is not slowed down and the other students are not bored. If this is the case, then it is the teacher not being able to reach all learners and these are the teachers that need to go! This will never happen because the principals are never is the classrooms doing observations.

[Nolan05]

OK...if ALL you have is a K-6/K-8 degree, DO NOT bother coming here to teach as they will tell you there are thousands of teachers with those creds that are not working. Being a sub, along with thousands of others, is a who you know and are friends with to get work. Right now, they are not going to give you any experience years outside Clark County, also people who leave CCSD are not getting credit for years taught when they return. We have a friend who taught for 10 years, left for 4 and had to start over when she came back and never left Nevada. The only people who are getting hired are math, science and spec ed highly qualified teachers. Get ahold of CCSD and find out what other Praxis tests you need to take to get highly qualified in Nevada. We came from Ohio as highly qualified and did not fit into Nevadas definition of HQ. Nevada also is not compatable with most states to transfer licenses over. My relative is a college professor, has written 2 math textbooks and taught for 20+ years and had to take 2 extra tests and failed one three times-telling us that 90% of the crap you never will teach anyone. Private schools will be your best bet, but many have already hired, I know that Coarl Academy is hiring right now and so is Challenger.

[ScoopLV]

Originally Posted by Everdeen

I could go on and on, but I doubt that anyone really wants to hear it. The thing the community must do, though, is demand a detailed budget - and I mean detailed - from the district. In an organization this large, they are able to camouflage a lot of the cronyism and poor spending decisions.

You and my wife should really get together over a beer. All I ever hear asking "how was your day" is how bad things are when it comes to spending, cronyism and top-heavy (and heavy handed) administrators.

[007 license to sell]

Here we go the first of the 400 layoffs for teachers hit yesterday, I really feel bad for anyone that has to worry about if they have a job from year to year especially since it's not like it's a seasonal job, or bid job like construction.

More than 400 teachers, personnel receive pink slips

[Everdeen]

Originally Posted by ScoopLV

You and my wife should really get together over a beer. All I ever hear asking "how was your day" is how bad things are when it comes to spending, cronyism and top-heavy (and heavy handed) administrators.

^This

Originally Posted by 007 license to sell

Here we go the first of the 400 layoffs for teachers hit yesterday, I really feel bad for anyone that has to worry about if they have a job from year to year especially since it's not like it's a seasonal job, or bid job like construction.

More than 400 teachers, personnel receive pink slips

It was a total of 400 layoffs (not the beginning). A far cry from the "thousands" they first threatened. I don't want to see anyone lose their job, but everyone needs to know the facts.

Thousands of teachers were hired last year with an influx of one-time federal funding. Reno received the same influx, but instead of hiring teachers and not telling them that the future funding wasn't certain, they advertised each position as a one year contract. The way CCSD has handled it has been dirty dealing to make teachers look selfish and greedy.

What really floors me is that the money is there to keep these teachers and even add more positions. The district chooses to spend it elsewhere. If they got rid of just two of the staff development days that are embedded in the school year, they could have kept all 400 of those teachers. That is just one of many ways money is wasted in our district.

Every single person who reads this needs to contact their trustee and demand a detailed budget. You need to ask everyone you know to demand a detailed budget.

http://ccsd.net/trustees/pdf/maps/DZ...tricts-map.pdf

Here is what the district will pull:

Salaries: x amount of dollars
Utilities: x amount of dollars

etc.

Here is what you must ask for:

Classroom teacher salaries:
Teacher on special assignment salaries:
Literacy Specialist Salaries:
Librarian Salaries:
ECS Salaries:
Project Facilitator Salaries:
Sped Facilitator Salaries:
Counselor Salaries:
Coach Salaries:


All of the above are classified as teachers but only one classification has a classroom full of students that they see every day and for which they are held responsible. I am not saying that the other positions are not important - technology at our school would stop without the ECS and no school should be without a librarian - but every one of those positions are highly coveted because they are staffed by people who could not hack the classroom and have eased into an easier position while still being classified as a teacher. There are so many project facilitators it is ridiculous. Those project facilitators assist main office administrators. There are many other classifications of teachers that are not in the classroom, but those are the ones I can thing of off the top of my head.

If teachers ask for accountability by the district they will completely ignore us. It has to be done by the community.