Better pay would be a start for fixing Arizona’s teacher shortage, but it’s not the only solution

Arizona is facing a teacher shortage, with underqualified teachers and vacancies affecting education across the state. What can policymakers do to make sure your child’s teacher wants to stay in the classroom?

The state’s decade-long teacher shortage is well documented. For example, the teacher attrition rate for the 2024-25 school year was 14%, according to Arizona Department of Education data.

Now, elected officials and teachers are looking for ways to correct the retention issue — including improving pay, benefits and non-financial support — and stabilize Arizona’s education system.

How can the pay issue contributing to the teacher shortage be addressed?

Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne said the first step is raising pay. The average Arizona teacher salary is $64,291, which ranks 31st in the nation, according to the National Education Association.

“They’re badly underpaid now. And we can do that [raise pay] without affecting anyone’s taxes because the Land Trust has plenty of money,” he said.

Horne, a Republican, and Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs both want to increase the amount of State Land Trust money that goes to education and teacher pay through a mechanism known as Proposition 123.

Prop 123 was a ballot measure that increased the amount of State Land Trust money allotted to public education by about $300 million per year after voters approved it in 2016, but it expired last year.

Lawmakers must first refer a new measure to the ballot to give voters a chance to renew Prop 123 funding. The GOP-led Legislature failed to agree on a renewal plan during this year’s session.

Hobbs told reporters in July that although Prop 123 was not renewed, Arizona public schools were still fully funded in this fiscal year’s budget.

“No public school has seen a reduction in funds this year. And it is still a priority for me to fight for Prop 123 renewal. I don’t think that conversation is off the table,” she said.

Democratic state Sen. Eva Diaz, a member of the Senate Education Committee, said although there are other ways to fund Arizona classrooms and teacher salaries, Prop 123 is the “most effective” choice.

“We are working towards getting to the majority and maybe if there’s a Democratic majority in January, maybe that can be done in 2027,” she said.

What do Arizona teachers say would motivate them to stay in classroom

While salary tends to be the major focus for elected officials trying to address the teacher shortage, educators themselves have additional ideas when it comes to incentives to stay.

Libby Brauss, a former preschool teacher at the Arizona State Schools for the Deaf and the Blind, chose not to renew her contract this summer. She said that making the school environment more open and understanding of the work educators do would have gone a long way.

“I think when you involve the educators who are doing the work in those type of decisions, in the type of planning, then I think educators then feel empowered to continue the work, even if the pay is not great. When you feel like you’re involved in making those decisions and impact, I think I would have stayed,” she said.

Joshua Murray, a Buckeye Union High School District English teacher, said he left the profession for a year when the low wages forced him to take a second job, but he returned because of his district’s welcoming and supportive environment and the difference he could make in students’ lives.

“I also feel like the idea of legacy is important to emphasize for teachers or anyone wanting to get into the education field or who has left the education field and wants to come back. It’s the idea of, ‘We don’t get this instant gratification from what we do. It comes years down the line, right?’ But we do this profession in order to leave a legacy, and I feel like that kind of gives its purpose,” he said.

For Horne, respecting teachers comes in the form of backing them in matters of discipline against misbehaving students. He’s pushing for new legislation that would require school administrators to support teachers in this regard.

“Actions have to have consequences. I served on a school board for 24 years. We never reversed a teacher on a discipline [action] once in 24 years. Our learning went up, our test scores went up, and I’m trying to bring that philosophy to the state,” he said.

In July, the state Department of Education released the results of a survey showing that 6.8% of teachers who responded were not planning to return for the new school year.

Of the nearly 93% of teachers who planned on returning, most said they felt respected and supported as teachers in the school community. They also reported receiving behavioral support from administration.

Diaz suggested that hiring additional support staff for classrooms would lessen the burden on teachers and help them want to stay in the classroom.

“Quality schools mean having qualified educators. We need to treat the education profession with respect and ensure that we are investing in pathways that lead to more qualified teachers in classrooms and giving them reasons to want to stay,” she said.

More Arizona teacher shortage solutions

Peter Boyle, senior director of education at the Center for the Future of Arizona, said schools are beginning to look for more ways to support employees without raising their salaries.

“We’re also seeing a recognition that compensation in and of itself is not enough. And so, districts are starting to be, I think, very creative in their benefits packages. So, for example, they [might be] including employee assistance plans for mental health support in their benefits packages, which, again, helps with stress and lack of support,” he said.

He also said some districts are beginning apprenticeship programs that allow teachers in training to get classroom experience before entering the profession. That could help with the transition to the new environment and make teachers more likely to stick around.

“The teacher residencies and apprenticeships have also seen higher outcomes recently in terms of the number of folks who are completing those programs, moving on to certification and then moving into the classroom,” he said.

Editor’s note: This is the second installment of a two-part KTAR.com series on Arizona’s teacher shortage. The first part looked at how the situation developed. KTAR 92.3 FM also is covering the issue on the air all week as part of a wider effort with 14 newsrooms participating in a collaboration project with the Arizona Local News Foundation.

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

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