‘What’s next’ in addressing Nevada teacher shortage

A formidable list of who's who in Nevada education circles soon will start meeting with state lawmakers and business leaders in an attempt to solve the chronic shortage of public school teachers in the Silver State.

Starting in January, more than three dozen officials from the state's largest school districts, labor unions, Nevada Legislature, gaming industry and nonprofit sector will spend five months drafting solutions to the alarming number of classrooms vacancies in schools across Clark County and Nevada.

The independent group plans to present the proposals publicly in May, with a focus on drafting legislation before lawmakers return to Carson City in 2017. The group also will recommend regulations that state agencies can adopt sooner and changes that school districts could make before the next school year starts in August.

Nevada Succeeds, a bipartisan nonprofit advocating for improvement to Silver State schools, will announce the launch of the project — which it calls "What's Next Nevada?" — during an event Wednesday at the Southwest Career & Technical Academy, 7050 W. Shelbourne Ave.

Brent Husson, president of Nevada Succeeds, highlighted the reforms that lawmakers approved this year to improve education for English language learners, students from low-income homes and those in poorly performing schools.

"Without the teaching talent to implement these programs, most of them are going to fail," Husson said. "You put a lot resources into programs for these at-risk kids, but these programs are fully dependent on the quality of teachers.

"We need to immediately get the entire state thinking about what's next," he added. "If you want this to succeed, what we have to do next is focus like crazy on teacher and leader development."

Aside from the teacher shortage, the "What's Next Nevada?" group also will focus on how to train better and more principals and improve school operations to keep teachers from leaving the profession.

As of Tuesday, the Clark County School District reported nearly 780 classroom vacancies, with a majority of those at high-needs schools.

Since April, the district had hired 1,882 new teachers. That's about 250 more new teachers than it hired during the same period last year.

Staci Vesneske, chief human resources officer for the district, expressed optimism that the "What's Next Nevada?" group won't just meet for five months without actually offering any solutions.

"There's only so much we can do at the district," said Vesneske, who also will serve with the group.

"I have every confidence they will produce results," said Vesneske. "You have all the right players at the table who all understand this can't be a quick fix. This must be a three- to five-year plan."

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