VICTOR JOECKS: Starting pay for new teachers went up $8,400 in six years. CCSD’s teacher shortage is now worse.

Teacher shortages are yet different acquisition occupation that much wealth didn’t fix.

Effective Dec. 1, the starting wage for teachers successful the Clark County School District is $43,000. Their total compensation is astir $64,000.

If that sounds similar a batch of wealth for a caller assemblage graduate, you’re right. That’s particularly existent due to the fact that teachers enactment astir 189 days a twelvemonth . New teachers whitethorn beryllium required to enactment successful 5 further predisposition days.

Teachers don’t person to enactment a afloat 8 hours either. Contractually, teachers person a 7 hr and 11 infinitesimal workday, including a duty-free 30-minute lunch. That means starting teachers marque much than $49 per hr of moving successful full compensation.

Teacher wage wasn’t ever this high. In January 2016, the territory gave successful to national demands and boosted starting teacher wage from $34,600 to $40,900. It wasn’t conscionable introduction wage that went up. The apical of the wage docket went from $72,300 to $90,900. It’s present $95,600 a year. That fig soars to well much than $130,000 if you look astatine full compensation. That’s implicit $100 per contracted hr of work.

At the time, some territory and national officials assured the nationalist that wage hikes would easiness the district’s shortage. During the 2015-16 schoolhouse year, the territory said it had astir 800 unfastened teaching jobs. Fast-forward astir six years. Last month, the territory had 842 teaching vacancies.

Yes, you work that right. Boosting teacher wage by astir $8,400 to $23,000 a twelvemonth did virtually thing to trim the district’s teacher shortages.

It’s worse than that. Enrollment during the 2015-16 schoolhouse twelvemonth was astir 320,000 students. Last week, Superintendent Jesus Jara said the territory had 305,000 students. Assuming 25 students per teacher, the territory needs astir 600 less teacher contiguous than it did six years ago.

This is the crushed information is truthful important. Sometimes what appears to beryllium a logical presumption doesn’t play retired arsenic expected. For instance, I assumed postulation fatalities would alteration successful 2020 due to the fact that radical drove less. But the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration’s preliminary estimates show that postulation deaths spiked by 7.2 percent. That’s the largest summation since 2007. Clearly, determination were different factors influencing the outcome.

It was logical to presume monolithic wage hikes would alleviate the district’s teacher shortage. It didn’t happen, which suggests the occupation isn’t with compensation amounts. It could beryllium that higher wage isn’t capable to transportation teachers to support moving successful a dysfunctional district. It could beryllium that teachers want a occupation with a wellness security program that tin wage its bills.

The delinking of wage and merit whitethorn crook disconnected immoderate teachers. Many teachers enactment overmuch much than their contracted hours but person the aforesaid wage arsenic those who bash lone what they person to. Worse, teachers person a fiscal incentivize to bash little successful their classroom. That gives them much clip to implicit enactment nether the Professional Growth System, which unlocks further wage hikes.

Perhaps it’s not what the territory pays that’s the occupation but however that wage is distributed. Exploring thing on those lines — contempt national objections — would beryllium much utile than shoveling much wealth into a breached system.

Contact Victor Joecks astatine vjoecks@reviewjournal.com oregon 702-383-4698. Follow @victorjoecks connected Twitter.