Superintendent Jara email to teachers seeks to clarify ‘false narratives’ about pay

Clark County School District Superintendent Jesus Jara said in a Tuesday email to teachers and other licensed employees that he wanted to clarify “pay and compensation questions” instead of allowing “false narratives” to persist amid contract negotiations.

Jara wrote that the nation’s fifth-largest school district — which has more than 300,000 students and about 40,000 employees — is negotiating with its five employee unions, including the Clark County Education Association teachers union.

“Despite what you may have heard, the current contract remains in effect until a new contract is agreed upon,” he wrote.

Jara’s email is the latest in a series of contentious interactions between the district and teachers union.

In recent months, CCEA has called for Jara’s resignation and said it wants a salary adjustment for all educators — 10 percent in the first year and 8 percent in the second — while alleging the district isn’t willing to prioritize using state education money toward boosting teacher pay.

But the district says the union’s demands would lead to a budget deficit and it wants to implement a new salary schedule instead.

The legislature allocated more than $2 billion in additional K-12 education funding over the next two years and $250 million more for teacher raises.

In his message to employees, Jara wrote the district must adopt a new salary schedule so “we can attempt to properly compensate you for the years of experience and education you bring to our classrooms.”

Only 7 percent of the district’s licensed educators are properly paid for their education and experience, he wrote.

“Our proposal calls for a one-time look back to accurately place licensed personnel on a salary schedule commensurate with their experience and education, which for many educators would result in more compensation beyond the amounts demanded by CCEA,” Jara wrote.

An estimated 78 percent of licensed employees would see a pay increase under a new salary schedule, Chief Human Resources Officer Carol Tolx told the Las Vegas Review-Journal on Tuesday.

It means the other 22 percent are either paid correctly or overpaid based on education and experience, she added.

In his email, Jara said CCEA’s proposed salary increase for all educators “would only perpetuate the inequitable current Salary Schedule, ignoring retention challenges.”

Jara said he and the School Board intend to dedicate increased state funding to employee compensation, but CCEA’s requests far exceed the money provided and would require the district to use one-time funds.

It would be irresponsible to use one-time funds for “ongoing compensation purposes, even if the District could legally do so, which is uncertain,” Jara said.

He also addressed the teacher shortage, calling it a “nationwide problem that can not be fixed overnight.”

Teacher shortage

Jara said the district saw a net gain of about 450 licensed employees last school year due to incentives and recruiting efforts.

He said that “despite inaccurate reports from some,” the district’s average separation rate — excluding retirements and health-related reasons — remains at about 6 percent.

The district had 1,148 classroom teacher vacancies as of Monday, about 330 fewer compared to the first day of school in August 2022, Tolx said.

“Our goal is always zero,” she said about vacancy numbers.

Tolx said the district’s team has done an outstanding job of hiring more teachers in the last year compared with several previous years.

“I’m really proud of the efforts we’ve put in,” she said.

Jara also addressed district efforts to renew contract waivers that added 19 minutes of instructional time at more than 45 schools, but said CCEA rejected those attempts.

The district has proposed contract language that would allow for the additional 19 minutes, and clarified during negotiations that it would continue to pay teachers for that time, according to the superintendent.

CCEA response

CCEA Executive Director John Vellardita said Tuesday that two words say it all from Jara’s email about what he’s truly concerned about: “Show up.”

Vellardita was referencing Jara’s closing sentence in his Tuesday email: “Together we will show up for our kids on August 7 and welcome our new and returning students to campuses to lead each of the 300,000-plus pupils down the path to academic growth.”

“I don’t think this email has anything to do with compensating teachers appropriately,” Vellardita said, adding he thinks Jara is fearful educators are so angry that it could jeopardize the school year.

He also called Jara’s email “very misleading.”

The email cites employee separation data, but attrition levels – everybody leaving for whatever reason – is a more accurate figure, Vellardita said.

The district’s attrition levels have spiked to about 12 percent when it’s normally around 9 percent, he said.

Jara’s email also doesn’t include information such as that the district has proposed no premium contribution increase for THT Health insurance for employees and those costs are projected to go up by 9 percent, Vellardita said.

“I think the district is sitting on a tinderbox,” he said, noting educators are fed up and have no confidence in the superintendent.

Revamping the salary schedule

The district has presented a proposed new salary schedule to CCEA as part of negotiations, Tolx said. It factors in education and years of experience.

“That is not something that currently happens in a way that is transparent with the public,” she said. It would also continue to include the existing professional growth system.

A new salary schedule would help the district get in line with what’s offered nationally, Tolx said.

She said she thinks it will make a big difference for existing employees, help attract new employees and be competitive nationwide.

The district lost at least 150 job candidates this summer once they received a compensation offer, Tolx said, noting the pay wasn’t what they thought they were expecting.

The current salary schedule was developed when starting teacher pay was $34,000, she said. Last year, the district raised its minimum pay by more than $7,000 to $50,115.

A district analysis showed more than 4,200 licensed employees – out of about 18,400 – were sitting at the bottom rung, Tolx said.

Human resources employees looked at the experience and education of all employees who were sitting at the bottom rung.

They found employees ranged from those with zero years of experience with a bachelor’s degree to 17 years of experience with a PhD.

Contact Julie Wootton-Greener at jgreener@reviewjournal.com or 702-387-2921. Follow @julieswootton on Twitter.