Nevada educators call on lawmakers to increase teacher pay, reduce class sizes

Hundreds of teachers, support staff, and allies gathered in front of the Nevada Legislature in Carson City last week in a show of solidarity for a campaign the Nevada State Education Association calls “Time for 20.” The group is asking lawmakers to support Nevada educators by providing a 20% increase in teacher pay, a minimum of $20 an hour for all workers in schools, and reducing class size to an average of 20 students. 

The rally started off with a number of speakers, including Assemblywoman Selena Torres from Clark County.

“I know firsthand the challenges that many of us have undergone in the pursuit of delivering a safe, high quality education for our kids – because our students are more than just our students, they are our kids. From a chronic lack of professional support staff in our hallways to the physical classroom crumbling down, we know the strong need our communities deserve. And that is why it is critical that we invest in our education system, the personnel that support our students, and lower class sizes to ensure that every Nevada child has access to an equitable education,” Torres told the crowd.

One of the biggest issues Nevada teachers are facing throughout the state is increasingly large class sizes. When I first started teaching nearly 20 years ago, I taught five classes of between 20-25 students. Now I teach six classes with more than 30 students. My overall student load has grown from around 120 students to more than 180. Average class sizes have grown consistently, and teachers are expected to take on this burden without classroom instruction being impacted.

Kaitlyn Van Kirk teaches at North Valleys High School in Washoe County. She was at the rally and explained how growing class sizes impacts her teaching. 

“I have 36 students in a classroom and there are just far too many students to meet each kid’s individual needs. We also have several vacancies, we have lots of long-term subs. Last year, I was at about 35 [students] per class. And now all my classes are maxed out at 36. They tried putting a 37th kid in my classroom, but we couldn’t even find a place to put a chair and a desk in my classroom to add a 37th kid,” said Van Kirk.

Van Kirk is not alone in her feelings.

“The lack of funding is huge, and the lack of resources for kids. I mean, our classes are huge, which makes it so hard to work with kids. It’s so hard to meet the needs of every student. I mean, I’ve had classes of 35 in the fourth grade classroom, and it’s just overwhelming. When you’re dealing with English language learners and special needs students, people need resources. Our support staff aren’t getting enough money. So they can’t dedicate the time to do it. We need to increase their pay so that we give them more consistently. We want to make sure that we care about them so we can show that we care for our students,” said Terry Healey, an educator in Washoe County.

Nevada teachers make less money starting out than the national average, and on average, make nearly $9,000 less than the national average. Additionally, the average Nevada teacher is paid more than $30,000 less than the average teacher in California. This is all according to the latest data from the National Education Association.

To make matters worse, there just aren’t enough teachers in Nevada. According to an analysis from the Annenberg Institute at Brown University, Nevada is short more than 830 teachers, and another 1,000 are considered underqualified. Before this school year started, Washoe County School District human resources director Emily Ellison told News 4 in Reno there were 87 teacher positions that needed to be filled. That’s up from 62 the year prior.

As a long-time educator, I see how this trend of asking teachers to do more with less is impacting the education of students from all backgrounds. Larger class sizes mean students will receive less support from their teachers, vacancies mean some classes can’t be taught, and the stress from these shortages lower morale of all teachers.

As this year’s legislative session quickly draws to a close, Nevada lawmakers will be the ones to figure out how to get teachers more of what they need to do their jobs.