By John Coppotelli IV
Teachers have the unique ability to change and shape young people’s minds. They are a vital part of ensuring that every generation has the necessary knowledge for their future endeavors. However, with costs on the rise everywhere and their salaries staying stagnant, teachers are becoming a lot scarcer, and classrooms are not getting filled. There are simply better career paths for their futures.
Many schools in Arizona are facing an unprecedented shortage of teachers, with the end of last school year having 30% of its classes being impacted by this. Many teachers are burnt out and are forced to work overtime hours, teaching extra classes, and yet are getting paid the same. The average starting salary for teachers in Arizona is $44,000, with the average salary overall being $60,000. Teachers are fundamental building blocks for the next generation, and not having the necessary mentors can be detrimental.
You might be thinking to yourself…didn’t we recently vote to increase teacher pay in Arizona? And you aren’t wrong; Proposition 123 was proposed by then-Governor Ducey and was designed to increase education funding by $3.5 billion over the course of 10 years by allocating money from the general fund and increasing annual distributions of the state land trust permanent funds to education, with a focus on increasing teacher pay. It was supposed to be the solution to the problem.
Meanwhile, due to necessary class slots not being filled, teachers are having to cover extra classes. Normally teachers have a couple hours of prep-time during the day to arrange plans for upcoming classes. However, with these shortages, they must give up those extra hours to help fill-in and teach unfulfilled classes. This leads to full-time teachers having to prepare for their own classes outside of school hours and it forces them to work unpaid overtime. This becomes a problem because any outside prep work takes away from the time they spend with their families.
Additionally, a lot of teachers nowadays have lost the respect they once had, as in the eyes of a lot of parents they are seen as glorified babysitters. Many of these teachers are seen as the front line of education for parents, as they are the ones educating and watching their children daily. If their children are performing poorly in school, the teachers are the first ones to be scrutinized. On top of that, direct support from upper administration is waning more and more each year. Teachers are more than ever overly stressed and lack the support to provide a proper education while trying to avoid scrutiny from both parents and administrators.
It is vital that teachers remain the foundation in every one of our children’s learning lives. Without proper support, who knows what a world of students without teachers could look like. We must do better for our teachers in this state, and that starts with better pay and a reasonable workload. And while I might not have a specific proposal, it’s clear that Proposition 123 wasn’t enough.