Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
Hi there! I’m a teacher in Northern Nevada. I live in a tiny mining town- very remote. It’s an hour drive to most things I need and 4 hours to entertainment/airports/stores. Honestly, I’m miserable here: it’s not the place I want to spend the next 20 years. I’d love to move to Reno, but rent/real estate has sky rocketed and teacher pay is poor there compared to most other counties in Nevada.
Anyways, I have 9 years into PERS and I don’t want to start over in another state. I’ve been looking at moving to Henderson and teaching down south, but glass door and other websites are terrifying me! People say the class sizes are huge, the pay is frozen, and there are no supplies . My question is... is it like that everywhere? Does anyone know of any schools that don’t have 40+ kids a class? Does anyone have any positives at all? Or tips for someone considering the move?
I have some friends that are teachers in Las Vegas. PM your email
address and I can forward their contact info to you so you can ask them
your questions directly.
leaving the retirement system is likely not as bad as you think, and certainly not as bad as teaching in CCSD. I left VA, where I worked a few years as a bus driver..in addition to my sanity, I also got back every penny, plus interest. Check their website. BTW, they cheated me on unused sick leave. Promised to pay us, but neglected to tell us it would be 2.50 per hour.
Hi there! I’m a teacher in Northern Nevada. I live in a tiny mining town- very remote. It’s an hour drive to most things I need and 4 hours to entertainment/airports/stores. Honestly, I’m miserable here: it’s not the place I want to spend the next 20 years. I’d love to move to Reno, but rent/real estate has sky rocketed and teacher pay is poor there compared to most other counties in Nevada.
Anyways, I have 9 years into PERS and I don’t want to start over in another state. I’ve been looking at moving to Henderson and teaching down south, but glass door and other websites are terrifying me! People say the class sizes are huge, the pay is frozen, and there are no supplies . My question is... is it like that everywhere? Does anyone know of any schools that don’t have 40+ kids a class? Does anyone have any positives at all? Or tips for someone considering the move?
Class sizes will be ~40 unless you land a job at a rural school 30+ minutes outside of town like Indian Springs or Sandy Valley, or a job at an alternative/behavioral school. There is no limit to class sizes in the contract for secondary teachers, not that the contract matters since the district chooses to follow it at their discretion.
In terms of positives, the pay is surprisingly good since they match your salary from your previous district, there's no state income tax, they pay for your health insurance and you contribute nothing to retirement. Coming from a rural mining town is actually a negative since your salary isn't as high as those coming from California.
But the negatives... I don't have the time.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Hal Roach
leaving the retirement system is likely not as bad as you think, and certainly not as bad as teaching in CCSD. I left VA, where I worked a few years as a bus driver..in addition to my sanity, I also got back every penny, plus interest. Check their website. BTW, they cheated me on unused sick leave. Promised to pay us, but neglected to tell us it would be 2.50 per hour.
Teachers make no contribution to NV PERS (district contributes for you... but whenever their contributions go up they reduce your pay... I digress). As a result, if you are not vested, you cannot withdraw "your" money. All of the contributions become worthless unless you do 5 years in the system and become vested, and then you cannot withdraw until you are 65 (unless you have done 30 years).
VA is not on NV PERS, those employees contribute to their retirement, which is why you were able to withdraw your contribution.
Class sizes will be ~40 unless you land a job at a rural school 30+ minutes outside of town like Indian Springs or Sandy Valley, or a job at an alternative/behavioral school. There is no limit to class sizes in the contract for secondary teachers, not that the contract matters since the district chooses to follow it at their discretion.
In terms of positives, the pay is surprisingly good since they match your salary from your previous district, there's no state income tax, they pay for your health insurance and you contribute nothing to retirement. Coming from a rural mining town is actually a negative since your salary isn't as high as those coming from California.
But the negatives... I don't have the time.
Teachers make no contribution to NV PERS (district contributes for you... but whenever their contributions go up they reduce your pay... I digress). As a result, if you are not vested, you cannot withdraw "your" money. All of the contributions become worthless unless you do 5 years in the system and become vested, and then you cannot withdraw until you are 65 (unless you have done 30 years).
VA is not on NV PERS, those employees contribute to their retirement, which is why you were able to withdraw your contribution.
I'd advise anyone moving here to get that in writing and a signed contract BEFORE you pack up and move. The CCSD has manipulated this for many people, not matching their salaries up to (I believe 80K) and when you're here, awaiting your assignment, they will hand you a contract that might not be what was told to you. Get it in writing and signed before you move. The problem is, if you are moving, they don't get contracts to you until just before the start of your first year. So...... buyer beware.
Class sizes will be ~40 unless you land a job at a rural school 30+ minutes outside of town like Indian Springs or Sandy Valley, or a job at an alternative/behavioral school. There is no limit to class sizes in the contract for secondary teachers, not that the contract matters since the district chooses to follow it at their discretion.
In terms of positives, the pay is surprisingly good since they match your salary from your previous district, there's no state income tax, they pay for your health insurance and you contribute nothing to retirement. Coming from a rural mining town is actually a negative since your salary isn't as high as those coming from California.
But the negatives... I don't have the time.
Teachers make no contribution to NV PERS (district contributes for you... but whenever their contributions go up they reduce your pay... I digress). As a result, if you are not vested, you cannot withdraw "your" money. All of the contributions become worthless unless you do 5 years in the system and become vested, and then you cannot withdraw until you are 65 (unless you have done 30 years).
VA is not on NV PERS, those employees contribute to their retirement, which is why you were able to withdraw your contribution.
I didn't say it was. OP is vested and will not lose a dime by enrolling in another States system.
I’d love to move to Reno, but rent/real estate has sky rocketed and teacher pay is poor there compared to most other counties in Nevada.
real estate is ridiculous at the moment in Vegas/Hendo too, just FYI.
Quote:
Originally Posted by sweetenigma
Anyways, I have 9 years into PERS and I don’t want to start over in another state. I’ve been looking at moving to Henderson and teaching down south, but glass door and other websites are terrifying me! People say the class sizes are huge, the pay is frozen, and there are no supplies . My question is... is it like that everywhere? Does anyone know of any schools that don’t have 40+ kids a class? Does anyone have any positives at all? Or tips for someone considering the move?
private schools have smaller class sizes.
remember glassdoor is probably 90% complaints from former employees, and 10% from happy current employees.
that being said... the positives are that you can make a difference in one of the worst school districts in the country.
good luck.
btw... whatever you do, wherever you go. I promise it can't be worse than battle mountain.
that being said... the positives are that you can make a difference in one of the worst school districts in the country.
No you can't. This school district doesn't want students to learn. Any effort to try and get students to learn is met with hours of meetings and piles of paperwork by admin, who simply wants you to pass the students along so they can brag about their always increasing graduation rates that rise without test scores going up.
The district wants you to babysit as many kids as possible for as inexpensive as possible. Teachers can't send unruly students out of the classroom. Class sizes are set so large that no one gets the help they need and teachers have to spend the majority of their time managing the behavior of students who know there will be no consequences for their actions.
No you can't. This school district doesn't want students to learn. Any effort to try and get students to learn is met with hours of meetings and piles of paperwork by admin, who simply wants you to pass the students along so they can brag about their always increasing graduation rates that rise without test scores going up.
The district wants you to babysit as many kids as possible for as inexpensive as possible. Teachers can't send unruly students out of the classroom. Class sizes are set so large that no one gets the help they need and teachers have to spend the majority of their time managing the behavior of students who know there will be no consequences for their actions.
this is exactly why so many parents are sending their kids to charter schools in California! ...and it's also why the teacher's union tried to wage a full-on war against charter schools in Sacramento during the last leglislative session.
My sister-in-law is a teacher at a charter school here in California. They take Special education students, they take kids from rough backgrounds, kids who were in juvenile hall or in prison (in the case of 19+ year olds) and they have almost no discipline problems because the school is set up like a panopticon, where the teachers watch the students and watch each other, and the students hold each other accountable as well, there are cameras and video monitors throughout the premises.
It's a really efficient way to run a school. That's why they are hated by the unions. There's this weird dichotomy with union ideology where they want an outdated school model that no longer works and doesn't really prepare kids for the future -- which is not sitting in one place for an hour and waiting for a bell to ring, so you can sit in another place for another hour and wait for another bell to ring. And then there's this continual need by unions to pick fights with admin.
That doesn't work in this day and age, but try to get the unions -- with their Stone Age thinking -- to embrace something different and something that doesn't involve an adversarial relationship between staff and admin. It just doesn't work.
Last edited by kttam186290; 10-15-2019 at 09:22 PM..
this is exactly why so many parents are sending their kids to charter schools in California! ...and it's also why the teacher's union tried to wage a full-on war against charter schools in Sacramento during the last leglislative session.
My sister-in-law is a teacher at a charter school here in California. They take Special education students, they take kids from rough backgrounds, kids who were in juvenile hall or in prison (in the case of 19+ year olds) and they have almost no discipline problems because the school is set up like a panopticon, where the teachers watch the students and watch each other, and the students hold each other accountable as well, there are cameras and video monitors throughout the premises.
It's a really efficient way to run a school. That's why they are hated by the unions. There's this weird dichotomy with union ideology where they want an outdated school model that no longer works and doesn't really prepare kids for the future -- which is not sitting in one place for an hour and waiting for a bell to ring, so you can sit in another place for another hour and wait for another bell to ring. And then there's this continual need by unions to pick fights with admin.
That doesn't work in this day and age, but try to get the unions -- with their Stone Age thinking -- to embrace something different and something that doesn't involve an adversarial relationship between staff and admin. It just doesn't work.
Cameras would help but you need to actually have a district/administration that is willing to act when caught doing something bad.
For instance, when I smell weed coming from the bathroom across the hall from my classroom, admin will come down, smell it as well, say "it's not that bad", then tell the kids to go to class.
Another time I had a student who left their supplies in my room. I open the binder to try and figure out which kid it is and there's a 8 inch chef's knife in the binder. I reported it to admin who issued no consequences to the student, who claimed that it was me who put the knife in the binder.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
