LAS VEGAS (KTNV) — With ongoing contract disputes between Clark County School District and Clark County Education Association, many question what the future of teachers will look like.
Daniel Schantol, a middle school teacher at the district, said the pay has not caught up to the responsibilities he holds.
“Teachers are so frustrated with what’s going on,” said Schantol. “They're struggling at getting all the work done.”
He’s afraid the teacher shortage problem might only get worse.
“There are fewer teachers coming out of colleges than ever before,” said Schantol. “There are fewer students considering the option of becoming a teacher. Currently, I'm wondering why I would be going to anybody else out there and saying, ‘hey, yeah, you should become a teacher where your job is going to get worse and worse every single year, and there's no hope in getting any kind of pay raise.’”
Currently, there are two programs at the University of Nevada, Las Vegas to fast track those who aspire to be teachers in early childhood education, elementary education and special education.
One is the Alternative Route to Licensure which if for those with bachelor’s degrees outside of education hoping to make a career change and get their master’s degree to teach.
The other is called the Paraprofessional Pathways Project which is for those currently employed at CCSD or Nevada Charter School as a support staff member and are looking to transition into a classroom teaching role.
The programs have been around for four years.
Dr. Kenneth Varner, associate dean for academic programs and initiatives, said the programs have been successful because of how flexible they are.
“We're also able to provide the financial support, which is great, but more importantly, we've been able to understand the flexible needs that people who work full time have create the coursework options that suit those demands, allow them to remain employed,” said Dr. Varner.
According to Dr. Varner, the programs have not only helped with teacher vacancies but with teacher retention.
“So one of the things that we're really proud of is not only the 92% graduation rate in a very diverse group of students, but they're working in places that have typically had a high teacher turnover,” said Dr. Varner. “When we map our folks on to where teacher turnovers are, we're seeing that the places that they're going and where they're staying are also schools that have had a harder time keeping teachers in place.”
Kelsey Claus, associate director of programming & communications of UNLV’s College of Education, said these programs were created with the intention of tackling the teacher shortage crisis in an innovate way.
According to Claus, there have been about 230 students who have graduated from both programs and at least 88% are currently in licensed teaching positions in Nevada. Additionally, Claus said about 70% of the students come from historically underrepresented backgrounds with 65% being first-generation college attendees.
“These programs are absolutely a game changer for folks,” said Claus. “These are people who have hit a roadblock in trying to get their degrees finished. These are folks who work full time in addition to going to school and doing student teaching isn't an option. And paying for these courses is a huge chunk. So, these programs have offered folks a different pathway that hasn't been there in the past.”
Arianna Hicks is currently a student in the PPP program. She said working in a school made her realize she wanted to teach.
“Because I was a teacher’s assistant, I was like ‘Man, I’m really good at this,’” said Hicks. “I was like ‘I want my own classroom now.’”
Hicks said seeing the ongoing contraction disputes between CCSD and CCEA hasn’t discouraged her from pursuing a teaching career.
“Forget about, you know, what the school district is doing. Just remember why you became a teacher,” said Hicks. “You didn't become a teacher for the money. You became a teacher to teach the next generation how to, you know, survive in this world and how to learn. You know, you had a passion for it.”
However, Hicks does believe the teacher recruitment and retention problem could come down to compensation.
“I really just think it's just teachers want to get paid. You know, it's not that they don't want to work. It's just like they don't want to be paid so little,” said Hicks.
It’s a sentiment Schantol echoes.
“I love seeing the long-term process of kids developing and becoming greater and doing better, and it's hard for me to give that up,” said Schantol . “And yet I'm out there. I'm looking at other careers because why would I continue doing this when I don't see the benefit on the back end, when I can't survive, when I have to work two jobs just for all the things that I need to pay?”
According to Nevada Education Association, Nevada’s average teacher pay ranks 30th in the nation.
