UPDATE MAY 11: Teachers at Foothill High School are holding a protest this morning before school begins for the day.
Just a couple teachers out here this morning at Foothill HS, protesting after still not receiving the raises they were promised. pic.twitter.com/Qq0g9euSRh
— Marissa Kynaston (@marissaktnv) May 11, 2018
UPDATE: About 20 teachers and students out protesting for teacher raises in front of Foothill HS pic.twitter.com/rzK44Mesb4
— Marissa Kynaston (@marissaktnv) May 11, 2018
ORIGINAL STORY
As Clark County teachers prepare for another protest Friday educators are opening up about how the lack of raises are impacting their families.
It's no secret that teachers throughout the nation's fifth-largest school district are "frustrated" by the continued fight for over their pay raise.
"Constantly having to fight this battle brings the morale down for teachers every single year," Eldorado High School teacher Jennifer Manning said.
A group of teachers is planning to protest at Foothill High School in Henderson because of "CCSD's failure to honor arbitration and pay teachers their raises."
Some teachers have come forward talking about how they are having to take on extra work while waiting for the increase in pay.
Several teachers saying they've started driving for ride-sharing services like Uber and Lyft to help fill the gap in their budgets. Others have turned to real estate or work as tutors.
This as CCSD teachers are nearing two years without a pay raise as the district is challenging an arbitration ruling that sided with teachers.
In that time costs including gas, rent and insurance have continued to rise.
"He does handy work. He works in a warehouse. And he drives Uber," Alexis Salt said of her husband who is also a bus driver. "Get up at the crack of dawn and work 15 hours a day and come home dog tired. It is really hard and it is frustrating."
Other longtime teachers say it isn't a new trend.
"In the evenings I was a waitress and on the weekends I was a tutor," Manning said of her first few years as a teacher. "It wasn't until I gained my master's degree that I was able to earn a livable wage, but that cost money also."
That's why Salt said the memo sent out Monday to principals calling for schools to cut $47 million dollars from schools operating budgets, saying it needed because of recent arbitration rulings in favor of teachers.
"It felt like a kick in the gut," Salt said. "To blame us like we are taking pencils and paper out of these kids hands is insane. It is insulting."
Others say the budget problems, which are said to total $68 million total, are a result of bad planning on the district's part.
"It really doesn't make sense to me," Manning said.
Most teachers who spoke to 13 Action News saying the cuts need to be made higher up in the district.
"If it is really about the schools, then let's get the money to the schools and not that central office," Manning said.
The district office is set to absorb $21 million of the $68 million deficit.
