Teacher shortage

Each summer, Clark County School District administrators lament the number of teaching vacancies they have to fill and the pool of applicants from which they must choose. This year is no different, with more than 1,000 open classroom positions at campuses across the valley.

Most everyone in Nevada's education establishment believes significantly increasing the salaries of starting teachers will make the problem go away in a hurry -- as long as hundreds of millions of dollars worth of pay raises are awarded to current teachers as well. Not surprisingly, the 2007 Legislature decided such a proposition was too expensive. The pay raises passed by lawmakers, 2 percent this year and 4 percent next year, were much smaller than what teacher unions requested.

On to Plan B. As one might expect from the education system, administrators want to create an entirely new position and institution -- and they want to put a familiar face in charge.

This week, the Board of Regents is slated to decide whether to set aside $45,000 per year for a UNLV center that would analyze student performance and teacher retention. The Clark County School District would contribute $50,000 per year. All the money would go to a salary for retired district administrator George Ann Rice.

Ms. Rice already collects a handsome pension from the state. Just a few months ago, the School Board rejected a $24,000 consulting contract that would have put Ms. Rice in charge of a program that lines up housing for teachers.

Ms. Rice used to manage teacher hiring for the school district. Despite her best efforts at the end of her service, the district was always short several hundred teachers at the start of each school year. What makes the school district think she can bring anything new to the table as a semi-retired academic?

If the Clark County School District is serious about addressing its teacher shortage, it would be better off using its resources to determine why so many qualified teaching applicants get lost in a sea of red tape or are rejected over Byzantine eligibility requirements. If anything, the district should find someone from outside the education bureaucracy who could recommend ways to more rapidly transition educated, private-sector professionals into teaching careers.

The Board of Regents should just say no to this proposal, which will give taxpayers more of the same -- at a greater expense.