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Nevada Teachers Chatboard

Anything positive to say about Clark County?

by GATeacher

Oct 29, 2014

My husband has a job offer in Vegas. I'm currently in my 11th year teaching middle school English/Lang Arts, but am also HQ in social studies & math. I have an M.Ed. + 30 more hours of graduate work post Master's degree.

Georgia is a right to work state, unions don't exist, we're in the midst of the GA version of Common Core & the 2nd year of the TKES eval system. Even with all the b.s., I still love teaching middle school kids.

Are there are good stories coming out of Clark County? I've read the complaints on the board, but would appreciate any positive aspects of the district if anyone has any to share.

view previous comments

Teach5 On 11/01/14, CCSD is ok but not great wrote: > To the person who says his wife works from 7AM to Midnight... she > has to learn to say no. She has to be on a half-dozen committees, > and attend every optional meeting available. This is not the > standard in CCSD. I've worked with teachers like this both in > Vegas and elsewhere... an...See MoreOn 11/01/14, CCSD is ok but not great wrote: > To the person who says his wife works from 7AM to Midnight... she > has to learn to say no. She has to be on a half-dozen committees, > and attend every optional meeting available. This is not the > standard in CCSD. I've worked with teachers like this both in > Vegas and elsewhere... and they do it to themselves. I guarantee > you his wife works with someone who puts in a solid 40 hours, gets > decent reviews, and will not be laid off or fired.

I wish she could but she is only on one committee(not by choice) and the meetings are mandatory and she goes to no optional meetings. Her Principal is an extreme over-doer trying to get a promotion, so having daily meetings is her way of making her teachers better. Even posting a sign that says "Good Teachers are always prepared no matter the circumstance" above the mailboxes. Yesterdays was to go over student scores from last year and figuring out % and breakdowns of something, which I try to tell my wife is not her job. My Principal pretty much leaves us alone and we have 1 weekly meeting, for about 15 minutes. Yes, she does have some that work only 40 but both are ridden harder by the Principal, harder reviews and more counseling and the other two were almost forced to transfer last year. > > Beyond that, public school teaching in America, in general, has > gone down , over the last 30 years. I work in NV and know > teachers from California to New York, and from Maine to Florida. > I even have a friend in Atlanta (for the OP from GA), and everyone > reports the same thing: micro-managing and weird, common core > driven strategies that don't work. Basically, it just depends on > administration on how bad it gets for you and on your ability to > swallow the BS. > > People have written books on the why of the "War on Teachers," and > it can be discussed at length, but that's not the question the OP > asked. > > She asked: is there anything positive about CCSD? Sure. There is a > union, but it's not like a Blue State union in Mass or NY. We're > still right to work in NV and, in my opinion, the union is better > than nothing but not by much. That said, Clark County's teacher > market typically provides for a level of job security. Locally, > we don't train that many teachers and always need to import > teachers from elsewhere. Even in 2009, when there were cutbacks, > most of the teachers RIF'ed found a teaching job before the start > of school. Quite frankly, CCSD doesn't fire that many teachers > because we don't know that we can replace them, so that helps. > > Like most public schools, it is who you know in CCSD. If your > administrator, or a connected teacher likes you, then you are > golden. If not, then you may have to deal with surplussing and > moving schools every year or two. If you've been a public teacher > for several years elsewhere, you know how to get along. It won't > be the promised land.... It'll be more of the same. Many of the > 1st year teachers who quit haven't had experience somewhere else > and likely would quit anywhere, or they thought it was only their > home state that was messed up. Sounds like you're going through > the same crap in GA as we are in CCSD, so if you're good with > jumping into a new pool of crap, you'll be fine. > > Pay isn't bad, but it's not great either. Cost of living is > relatively good in Vegas right now. You can get a decent place to > live in a decent neighborhood for 800-1000 for a 2 bdrm. To > someone from Iowa, that's insanely high and to someone from > California or NYC, that's insanely low, but you can typically get > along pretty well on a teachers salary with another working > spouse. There is no state income tax, so look at the CCSD salary > and your current state income tax rate and increase it by that > much. For me, it added 6% to my take home pay. > > Traffic isn't bad but again that's relative. You're from GA. If > you're from Atlanta, then Las Vegas traffic will seem light to > you. If you're from rural GA, then like anyone from a rural area > who moves to a big city, it will seem quite bad. Most of us from > large urban areas like LA, Chicago, Atlanta, NYC, etc, have no > issue with traffic. The people who gripe are the ones who moved > from small, rural towns and aren't used to waiting more than 30 > seconds at an intersection. > > All in all, it's not a bad place to teach and live, but it's not a > paradise either. > > On 10/30/14, Teach5 wrote: >> On 10/29/14, I have a few. wrote: >>> I'm very happy with my job. I work for a principal that >>> tries to leave me alone and let me do my job. I've put in >>> the years and jumped through the many salary advancement >>> hoops so I'm making good money. I'm very happy with my >>> benefits and hope we get to keep them. I work with kids that >>> for the most part are respectful and work hard. My peers are >>> caring and thoughtful people even when they drive me >>> bonkers. I live in a quiet supportive community that is very >>> much like my home town. >>> >>> Like all school districts across the country CCSD has >>> problems. No place is perfect. >>> >>> You may have to get re-certified for H.Q. in Nevada as they do >> not accept that many states qualifications here. You may also >> lose some of your tenure years if you come to Nevada. It is like >> many other districts, great-good and bad Principals, same with >> your fellow teachers but the school board is crooked and the >> public piles all the blame for the district woes on the >> teachers. Teachers get VERY LITTLE respect here and the schools >> are over-crowded bad because there is no money coming in for >> building. Both my wife and I teach and love it but she is really >> not happy this year since she works at least 80 hours a week >> getting to her school at 7am, attending meetings every morning >> until it is time to start for the day. She usually stays until >> around 6 every night, comes home and works until around midnight >> or later then goes to her school on Sundays to plan since she >> cant during the school day. There are just so many different >> policies and new ways of teaching they are ramming down >> everyones throats right now, showing the main reason there are >> thousands of openings every year. Over 1/2 of the 1st year >> teachers leave midway through or after the year and we also have >> the surplus time in Sept when you could lose your job just >> because you are new and have to move schools after 6 weeks of >> working at the school you were hired at. If they think the >> numbers are low at your school, low person moves on to the >> meeting and hopes they have something you are qualified to >> teach. Other than that, we love it here and will never leave!! >>> >>> >>> >>> On 10/29/14, GATeacher wrote: >>>> My husband has a job offer in Vegas. >>>> I'm currently in my 11th year >>>> teaching middle school English/Lang >>>> Arts, but am also HQ in social >>>> studies & math. I have an M.Ed. + >>>> 30 more hours of graduate work post >>>> Master's degree. >>>> >>>> Georgia is a right to work state, >>>> unions don't exist, we're in the >>>> midst of the GA version of Common >>>> Core & the 2nd year of the TKES eval >>>> system. Even with all the b.s., I >>>> still love teaching middle school >>>> kids. >>>> >>>> Are there are good stories coming >>>> out of Clark County? I've read the >>>> complaints on the board, but would >>>> appreciate any positive aspects of >>>> the district if anyone has any to >>>> share.

Nov 1, 2014

CCSD On 11/01/14, Teach5 wrote: > On 11/01/14, CCSD is ok but not great wrote: >> To the person who says his wife works from 7AM to >> Midnight... she has to learn to say no. She has to be on >> a half-dozen committees, and attend every optional >> meeting available. This is not the standard in CCSD. I've >> worked with ...See More

Nov 2, 2014

NV Teacher On 11/02/14, CCSD wrote: > Our contract doesn't allow for daily > meetings, and so these meetings are not mandatory. Also > committees can't be forced on a teacher if they require work > outside of the contract. >

I believe principals can require daily meetings as long as they are not during preps. Last year my friend had a...See More

Nov 2, 2014

Nancy On 11/02/14, NV Teacher wrote: > On 11/02/14, CCSD wrote: >> Our contract doesn't allow for daily >> meetings, and so these meetings are not mandatory. Also >> committees can't be forced on a teacher if they require work >> outside of the contract. >> > > I believe principals can require daily meetings as long...See More

Jan 16, 2015

Noel On 1/16/15, Nancy wrote:
> On 11/02/14, NV Teacher wrote:
>> On 11/02/14, CCSD wrote:
>>> Our contract doesn't allow for daily meetings, and so
>>> these meetings are not mandatory. Also committees can't
>>> be forced on a teacher if they require
> work
>>> outside of the con...See More

Jan 25, 2015

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