Nevada Is #1 In The Nation, But Not In A Good Way

As has been noted by many experts, there is a massive teacher shortage in America. Many of our nation’s public schools deal with overcrowded classrooms. Consequently, the situation is worse in some states than in others. Comparatively, a new study reveals that Nevada leads the nation in teacher to student classroom ratios. But not in a good way.

Of course, this dubious honor is nothing to be proud of. The folks at Schoolaroo.com have studied the data, and have determined that Nevada has the worst teacher to student classroom ratio in the U.S.A. Basically, the stark numbers show that our state averages 43.65 teachers for every one thousand students.

In fact, our neighboring states do not fare much better in this study. Utah ranks 49^th, Arizona 48^th, and California 47^th. It seems the southwest United States is feeling the teacher shortage worse than other regions of the nation. Incidentally, Vermont (#1), New Hampshire (#2), and North Dakota (#3) have the best teacher to student ratios in the country.

However, the teacher shortage is a nationwide concern according to Schoolaroo. For example, they pinpoint factors such as poor working conditions and low salaries as the reason more Americans are not choosing education as a career. Could it be that the kids who attend our nation’s public schools see how overworked and underpaid teachers are? Why choose education as a career?

As a matter of fact, Clark County School District is the fifth largest in the nation. Furthermore, the report goes on to state that our school district’s educator turnover rate spiked from 9% last year to 12% this year. That’s alarming. By now, you’ve seen the news reports about how unhappy our school district’s teachers are with their working conditions and wages. It seems that even more are deciding to give up their profession.

So, what are Nevada’s legislators and administrators doing about this teacher shortage crisis? For one thing, the Nevada Department of Education is implementing an alternative method for prospective teachers to get their credentials. It’s called “iTeach.” Basically, the program is designed to help alleviate educator shortages. Nevada joins states such as “Arkansas, Arizona, Florida, Hawaii, Indiana, Virginia, Louisiana, Tennessee, Texas, and West Virginia” in using this program.

If you’re looking for a career change, this may be a good opportunity for you. Especially if you’d like to give teaching a try. For example, a recent graduate of this program just earned “New Educator of the Year” from CCSD. Congratulations to Ms. Christina Day who teaches third grade at Liliam Lujan Hickey Elementary School. Originally, “Miss Chrissy” majored in criminal justice. She’s been a substitute teacher for a while and found that teaching children was her true calling. Is it yours? Nevada’s public schools could use your help.

It’s the first day of school in Clark County! Welcome back students, teachers, administrators, and staff. The first day of school is always a little bit exciting. You’re meeting your new teachers, seeing old friends from last year’s classes, and making new acquaintances too.

Undoubtedly, the first day of school and the last day of a school year are the most fun. The final day of school is fun because you have your entire summer vacation ahead of you. What could be better than that? All things considered; I always enjoyed the first day of a new school year too.

Certainly, when I was old enough to choose my own clothes, it was great to show them off on the first day of classes. Maybe some new sneakers too. Of course, when I was young and my Mom picked out my clothes, that wasn’t as much fun.

The first day of school is also an opportunity to reacquaint yourself with classmates you did not see during the summer. At least you get to rekindle old friendships. In addition, you meet some new kids who might become good friends too. The worst part of the first day of school is meeting up with the class bully. To be sure, that was never enjoyable.

Any school and any grade bring new teachers and new subjects to master. In grade school, you would know on the first day whether it was going to be a good year or a painstaking year. Because you would be spending the entire school year with the same teacher. But the good thing is, if you give every teacher a chance, you will learn something, even if they’re hard on you.

Additionally, new subjects bring new triumphs and failures. On the positive side, my best subjects were in English, foreign language, history/social studies, and music. With that in mind, it’s not a surprise I ended up with a career in radio. On the negative side, my worst subjects were in the math and science fields. I passed them all, but those subjects usually caused my grade point average to be lower.

To sum up, there are good and bad things to deal with during every school year. It’s always a mixed bag. However, it’s always nice to have a fresh start to the year. Now, pay attention class, because 96.3 KKLZ would like to “school” you with six great songs for the first day of school in Clark County.

The first day of first grade in elementary school. It was exciting, and a little bit scary. You had to start learning your ABC's if you had not done so already. You also had to learn to count and do simple arithmetic. Well, here's a #1 smash for the Jackson 5 when Michael was barely out of grade school. Time to see how easy it is to learn our ABC's and 1-2-3's.

This song is geared towards parents. Kids don't just learn from their teachers in school. They learn about life at home from their parents. So, enjoy the amazing harmonies provided by David Crosby, Stephen Stills, Graham Nash, and Neil Young. By the way, that's Jerry Garcia of the Grateful Dead on the steel pedal guitar.

Here's one of the songs from Alanis Morissette's magnus opus, Jagged Little Pill. Boy, ain't it true. You live and you learn. We all learn more from our mistakes than we learn from our successes. That is something difficult for many kids to understand. We've all made poor decisions in our lives. The key to is learn from those mistakes so you don't make them over and over. At least, that's what I get from this song. Anyway, it's all about learning, and that's what school's all about too.

Oh, those crazy "punks" from New York, The Ramones. This song is from the movie Rock 'n' Roll High School starring P.J. Soles, Vince Van Patten, Clint Howard and Dey Young. The punk rock group, The Ramones, is also featured in the film as honorary students at the fictional Vince Lombardi High School. The theme song sounds like a punk version of a Beach Boys song. Lots of fun. Wish we all could go to "Rock 'n' Roll High School." I would've gotten better grades there.

We all know Eddie Van Halen is one of the great guitarists in rock and roll history. But you have to admit his brother Alex rips that drum set apart on this Van Halen rocker from the album 1984. However, the group's dance moves in this music video leave a lot to be desired. Pretty bad, but pretty funny. Love the "look-alike" kids in the video with hairstyles and clothes to match the actual band members.

Not sure if you knew this or not, but Sting was an English teacher for a time before he became an international rock star. However, he has stated in interviews that this song is NOT autobiographical. Sting wrote this song, and the lyrics deal with feelings of fear, lust and guilt when a relationship between a teacher and a student becomes more than inappropriate. The Police would go on to win a Grammy Award for "Best Rock Performance by a Duo or Group" for this tune.

Larry Martino is the long-time afternoon drive personality on 96.3 KKLZ. The views and opinions expressed in this blog are those of Larry Martino and not necessarily those of Beasley Media Group, LLC.

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