VICTOR JOECKS: Teacher pay soared, but number of teachers didn’t

If a problem was easy to fix, it wouldn’t be a problem anymore.

This is easy to understand in some areas of life. If junk food tasted bad, people wouldn’t eat it. If social media weren’t appealing, teenagers wouldn’t be on their phones constantly. If someone isn’t tired, they don’t press the snooze button.

The same is true in public policy. Spending money on public education is politically appealing. But if that worked, the results would be apparent. They aren’t. Spending more money hasn’t even solved the Clark County School District’s teacher shortage.

At the start of the 2015-16 school year, the district paid new teachers less than $35,000. The maximum salary was under $73,000.

On the first day of school in the 2015-16 school year, the district had 15,425 classroom teachers, according to records provided by the district.

In 2015, then-Gov. Brian Sandoval pushed through the largest tax increase in state history to increase school funding. In January 2016, the district and the Clark County Education Association reached a new agreement. Starting teacher pay increased to $40,900 while the top end of the pay scale jumped to almost $91,000. At the time, union executive director John Vellardita bragged that non-Nevada teachers were asking about the district’s pay scale.

The following school year, the district had 15,784 classroom teachers on the first day of school. That 18.1 percent increase in starting teacher pay led to a 2.3 percent increase in classroom teachers. Not a great return on investment.

In May 2022, the district announced it was increased starting teacher pay from $43,011 to $50,115. The top of the salary schedule went above $100,000.

At the start of the 2021-22 school year, the district had 15,475 classroom teachers. At the start of the following year, the district had 14,849 teachers. A 16.5 percent increase in teacher pay led to a 4.1 percent decrease in classroom teachers.

Last December, the district gave into the union and approved another substantial pay hike. Starting teacher pay is now more than $54,000 while the top of the pay scale is more than $129,000. At the start of this school year, the district also had more than 1,100 openings for teachers and other licensed personnel.

In total, the district had 15,574 classroom teachers to start this school year. That’s just 149 more than in 2015-16 when starting pay was more than 50 percent lower.

The problem is retention. In the 2013-14 school year, the teacher turnover rate was 8 percent. In 2021-22, it was 12.3 percent. The next school year, it was 10 percent. Every percentage point represents more than 150 teachers. If the district could reduce its retention rate to 8 percent, its teacher shortage would soon dissipate.

Because teachers know the pay scale when they’re hired, the problem isn’t low pay. The district should improve teachers’ working environment by disciplining students to reduce violence. It should reinstitute real grading standards, too.

As the past decade has shown, the district’s teacher shortage won’t be solved by spending more.

Victor Joecks’ column appears in the Opinion section each Sunday, Wednesday and Friday. Contact him at vjoecks@reviewjournal.com or 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks on X.