Thursday, July 28, 2005
Copyright © Las Vegas Review-Journal

TEACHER SHORTAGE: School district in 'crisis'

Officials hiring substitutes, foreigners

Substitutes will replace a shortfall of about 500 teachers in specialty areas when students begin pouring into Clark County School District classrooms in late August.

"We are in a crisis," said Lina Gutierrez, the district's executive director of licensed personnel. "Every year, recruiting gets tougher and tougher. We're forced to go full force in recruiting substitutes."

Gutierrez said she expects to have about 1,600 teachers contracted by the first day of school Aug. 29. But the district -- one of the fastest growing in the nation -- needs about 2,100 teachers to fill all its vacancies, most of which are in high-need areas such as special education, math and science.

At the beginning of the 2003-04 school year, the district had about as many teachers contracted as were needed, Gutierrez said.

Mary Jo Parise-Malloy of Nevadans for Quality Education said the number of substitutes who will be teaching in the fall is alarming. But she said she doesn't know how the problem can be fixed in a district that grows by about 12,000 to 15,000 students a year.

"The ideal situation would be to have a qualified licensed teacher in every position," she said. "But this is a problem nationwide ... Maybe the solution is to rope them in, tie them up and haul them by trailers."

Substitute teachers are required to have a minimum of 62 college credits, six of which must be in education. Prospective substitutes also must pass a skills test that covers English, reading and math, Gutierrez said.

She added that the district has contracted 1,231 teachers and is waiting on 447 teachers who haven't yet committed to teaching in Clark County. She expects the majority of those who have yet to decide to agree to contracts.

Gutierrez said the district has made more than 2,100 offers and has been rejected by more than 400 teachers. Those who have rejected contracts from the district have cited low starting salaries and high property costs in the area.

Gutierrez said the district had about 2,000 teachers contracted by the beginning of the 2003-04 year.

The shortfall comes at a time when the district has implemented unique recruiting methods to fill its vacancies.

For the first time in Nevada, school district recruiters have gone overseas to bring foreign-born teachers to Clark County. Teachers from the Philippines are expected to arrive in town soon. They'll be followed by 14 teachers from Spain and six teachers from Canada, who will arrive in Las Vegas in the next few weeks. The teachers will work under temporary visas that expire in three years.

JoAnn Schlekewy, director of licensed personnel in charge of recruiting, said all the recruits are expected to begin teaching in the fall. The teachers will fill roles in special education, math and science.

Schlekewy said the international-teaching recruits boast impressive credentials, including being bilingual and holding multiple degrees.

She added that the district is considering recruiting in Mexico, Singapore and Puerto Rico. But any additional recruiting overseas will depend on how well the foreign recruits perform.

"Culturewise there will be a shock," Schlekewy said. "How they'll make a transition? We won't know until they get here."

To fill other needs in specialty areas, district officials have contacted the Nevada Department of Education in an attempt to get recently retired teachers back into the classrooms.

Gutierrez said state law permits retired teachers to re-enter the field only if they will fill a void in a specialty area. The district has identified 14 areas that are considered high needs.

But not everyone thinks the teacher shortage is as dire as presented by district officials.

Jill Eastman recently was hired by the district as a substitute. Eastman touts a master's degree in education and has worked in special education with preschool children She has taught in various facets of education for the last 30 years.

She said she was surprised to find that the district did not offer her a contract, citing the fact she has not taught special education since 1999 and has not taught in the same school in the last three years.

"They are their own worst enemy," Eastman said of the district's hiring practices. "It seems better to me to have a teacher that is qualified than not to have any teacher in a classroom."