The fifth-largest school district in the nation, Clark County School District in Las Vegas, will be starting the school year Aug. 7 1,247 educators short, leaving thousands of students without a licensed teacher. To make matters worse, they are at risk of a possible “work action” if they do not come to an agreement with the Clark County Education Association by Aug. 26. This will affect the education of approximately 300,000 children.

The Nevada Legislature recently passed historic education funding that includes $250 million for raises for all educators in the state. Unfortunately, CCSD claims that the money is not enough, emphasizing the need to “accurately place licensed personnel on a salary schedule commensurate with their experience and education.” In other words, they are expecting veteran teachers like myself, an educator in this district since 1997 who will not see a dime according to their proposal, to shoulder the financial burden of mistakes they made when they placed people on the salary schedule incorrectly.

This is a slap in the face given they used this same funding — money fought for in Carson City by our teacher’s union, the Clark County Education Association — to approve a 10 percent raise for every single administrator and an increase of 8 percent toward their health care premiums. If that is not appalling enough, this decision came after they spent several more million creating additional superintendent positions in an already top-heavy, out-of-touch district administrative team. 

To add insult to injury, we have individuals like former Ms. Nevada, Katie Williams, on our board of trustees who is notorious for her disdain toward educators. On the day CCEA met to determine whether to begin the school year without a contract, she tweeted “I would say…The MAJORITY of the men, women, and two-spirit teachers we have in this district…WHO ARE UPSET about the CCSD/CCEA debacle…Have NO IDEA what they are talking about. Go to therapy and work out some of your trauma.”

With the limited teaching experience of our district leadership, and the lack of empathy on behalf of those who sit on our school board, it’s no wonder CCSD can’t attract and retain quality educators. They are completely out of touch with what it’s like to be a classroom teacher. 

Former Secretary of Education Arne Duncan put it this way: “The strength of every profession in our country grows out of the knowledge and skills that teachers help to instill in our children.”

Teaching is one of the most important jobs in the world but is often looked upon as a profession that just about anyone can do. Consequently, it results in a romanticized narrative that perpetuates teaching as a profession for self-sacrificing martyrs. Painting educators as altruistic is a convenient way to justify not paying them what they deserve, even though educators are now considered among the most educated workforce in this country. 

I did not become an educator expecting to be wealthy, but I am not a martyr. It’s not unreasonable for someone with specialized training and advanced degrees to insist on a living wage so we can own a home, afford groceries and health care, and provide for our families without needing a second job. Nor is it selfish of me to not be willing to “take one for the team” and allow the Clark County School District to use money fought for by my union to clean up their mess.

If we want to improve public education in this country, we must start by improving the way we perceive our educators. CCSD administrators, all former teachers, should understand this more than anyone. Yet they continue to “pad” the top even though their foundation is crumbling. As motivational speaker Tony Gaskins says: “You teach people how to treat you by what you allow, what you stop, and what you reinforce.”

CCSD educators have had enough. We will not tolerate being treated this way, and if it takes a “work action” to help school board trustees and CCSD administrators understand this, then so be it. We deserve better.

Kelly Edgar has taught in the fifth largest school district in the United States since 1997, holds a bachelor’s and master’s degree in music education, is a National Board Certified vocal music teacher and is the task force chairperson over middle school choral music for her school district of over 300,000 students.