Hope on the Horizon: Arizona’s Persistent Teacher Shortages Show Signs of Improvement

WASHINGTON – Arizona is grappling with a persistent teacher shortage, but there’s a glimmer of hope as some districts report fewer unfilled positions.

Tucson Unified School District currently has 164 classroom vacancies, a significant improvement from 300 at the same time last year. Deer Valley Unified School District is nearing full staffing, while Tempe Union High School District has reduced its openings from five to just one.

Dawn Anderson, Director of Human Resources at Flagstaff Unified School District, noted, “We have been more successful this year than we were last year,” highlighting that only eight positions remain unfilled out of the district’s 600 certified teachers.

Challenges persist, particularly due to low pay. The National Education Association cites Arizona’s starting salary for teachers at $44,124, ranking 21st nationwide, but the average salary stands at $60,275, positioning it at 32nd. This salary is $9,000 below the national average and insufficient in high-cost areas such as Maricopa County, where a single parent with one child needs $79,147 to make a living.

Rikki Acosta, a social-emotional learning coordinator at Maryvale Preparatory Academy, remarked, “We’re getting paid so little and asked to do a lot.”

To manage teacher shortages, Arizona schools often remove planning periods, adding to the teachers’ workload. Educators argue this only accelerates burnout and takes away precious unpaid family time.

Desert Edge High School Principal Gretchen Hann lamented, “It’s hard, because they don’t get a break in their day and they don’t have time to plan. Then they have to take everything home and spend nights and weekends getting prepared.”

A survey by the Arizona School Personnel Administration Association (ASPAA) found 2,229 teaching vacancies at the start of last school year across 131 districts.

Arizona has initiated several programs to mitigate this issue. The Arizona Teachers Academy forgives student loans for graduates who commit to teaching in K-12 schools. The Academy enrolled 3,255 students in 2023, a 14-fold increase since 2018, but budget cuts are threatening its future efficacy.

Districts are also employing alternative educator programs, allowing college graduates to teach while they prepare for certification. “The districts that are doing that are building a teacher pipeline that we would not have had without it,” noted Justin Wing, data analyst at ASPAA and Assistant Superintendent of Human Resources at Mesa Public Schools.

Arizona State University’s Next Education Workforce project is proposing a team-based approach to teaching, leveraging teachers’ strengths to better manage classroom responsibilities.

To further address vacancies, districts are recruiting foreign teachers through J1 visas, which allow certified teachers to work in the U.S. for three years, with a possible extension of two additional years. However, processing times can delay this solution.

Jennifer Kortsen, spokesperson for Casa Grande Union High School District, shared, “We’re going to have some arriving this month, some in August, but some are about 10 weeks out,” noting the district expects about 25 J1 teachers for the upcoming school year.