Plans for a ‘quality teacher in front of every child, every day’ in Nevada near completion

As the Clark County School District enters its peak hiring season, community leaders next week will unveil policy and program recommendations aimed at solving Southern Nevada’s chronic teacher shortage.

Their proposals, drafted over several months during a series of closed-door workshops, are intended to strengthen school leadership and recruit and retain high-quality teachers for campuses across the state.

The recommendations include creating a career path for ambitious teachers who don't want to become administrators; overhauling principal training programs to increase accountability; and encouraging parental and community engagement at every school.

Nevada Succeeds, a business-backed education reform advocacy group in the Silver State, will present the full list of recommendations at Bonanza High School on May 17.

“Our organization set a guiding principle that admittedly is very lofty, but it’s to have a quality teacher in front of every child, every day,” said Brent Husson, president of the nonprofit group.

TEACHER PROMOTION

Since January, his organization has gathered political, school and industry leaders to brainstorm recommendations that state agencies and lawmakers might use to help boost teacher and principal pipelines.

Husson previewed those recommendations during a Tuesday session of a technical advisory committee studying reorganization of the Clark County School District.

One approach would create a new career ladder for teachers who want to remain in the classroom but also progress in their job.

"We need structures for the most talented teachers to stay in the classroom if that's what they want to do"#teaching #educhat #nved #edchat

— Nevada Succeeds (@NevadaSucceeds) May 10, 2016

Too often, Husson said, young and effective educators discover the only path to promotion requires transition away from students and into administration.

“If you’re contemplating becoming a teacher in our system — not just in Nevada, but all over the country — you’re basically contemplating a career choice that says when you walk into a classroom on your very first day…the job you do on the 30th year of your job will be the same,” Husson said.

PREPARED PRINCIPALS

Also under consideration are ways to recruit, evaluate and develop principals to in turn improve instructional leadership and encourage more teachers to stay in the profession.

Such training may prove vital to an “empowerment” plan recently endorsed by lawmakers. It would strip power from central administration, giving principals more control over budget, staffing and curriculum decisions.

“Do we have the principals in our system today to take on empowerment as a model and be successful?” Husson asked. “The answer to that question is simply no.”

The final recommendations would require the state to monitor parent and community engagement at schools, expand a two-year coaching and mentoring program for new teachers and help colleges and universities recruit math and science majors to become teachers.

Husson stressed that the ideas are just that — drafting actual policies and legislation will begin next week, after the Nevada Succeeds event, he said.

‘GOOD SELLING POINT’

Nevada Succeeds will unveil the proposals as district officials ramp up hiring efforts in advance of the 2016-17 school year.

In the past six months, the district has received about 4,000 applications for 960 open teaching positions.

That’s higher than the 881 classroom vacancies when the 2015-16 school year started last August. In 2014, the district started classes with 670 vacant positions, a dramatic increase from 171 in 2013.

A majority of vacancies are concentrated at schools with the highest share of at-risk students, but district officials on Tuesday expressed optimism that incentives approved by lawmakers last year have encouraged more teachers to remain at those campuses

“The starting salary for teachers now is above that $40,000 mark, but if teachers are coming in brand new, teaching in certain subject areas…there are salaries that could surpass $50,000,” said Mike Barton, the district’s chief student achievement officer. “That’s a good selling point for Clark County.”

Contact Neal Morton at nmorton@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-0279. Find him on Twitter: @nealtmorton