What can Arizona schools change to address teacher retention crisis?

The Arizona Department of Education is studying the reasons current educators are staying in the field to figure out ways to address the state’s teacher retention crisis.

The department sent surveys to more than 9,000 certified K-12 teachers and received 2,076 responses.

According to the results, 6.8% of current teachers do not plan on returning for the new school year.

Of the 93% who are staying in the classroom, most said they felt respected and supported as teachers in the school community. They also reported receiving behavioral support from school administration.

State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne told KTAR News 92.3 FM that the results are a sign for Arizona schools to increase their support for employees.

“We need to pass a bill … to encourage administrators to support teachers on discipline, because I have a letter from a teacher in the Phoenix Union High School District that said she could name 40 teachers who have left the district, who’ve left the profession because the administration didn’t support them on discipline,” he said.

What else did teacher retention survey reveal?

In addition to the retention question, the survey presented 20 statements about the job and asked for one of the following responses:

• Strongly agree
• Agree
• Neutral
• Disagree
• Strongly disagree

Only 27% of respondents agreed that they have enough time during the workday to complete work outside of direct classroom instruction.

The teachers’ agree responses were also on the low end for the subjects of whether pay is competitive across Arizona (38%) and if healthcare and retirement benefits meet the needs of their families (39%).

Teacher retention survey highlighted negatives and positives

Horne said the survey was also important for highlighting the appealing aspects of Arizona classrooms, like the large percentage of educators, 70%, who agreed they have access to resources that boost their teaching.

“When I appear before the Legislature every year, I tell them what a crisis our teacher shortage is and what I think we need to do to fix it. But I thought if we’re going to do negatives, maybe we should look at the positive side also,” he said.

Funding for this journalism is made possible by the Arizona Local News Foundation.

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