The Tucson Unified School District continues to suffer from a teacher shortage and it appears to be impacting the students in need of stability the most. According to sources, TUSD is advertising 26 exceptional education teacher vacancies.
If that were not bad enough, sources report that as of Sept 4, there were 28 exceptional education teacher aide vacancies. Educators report that turnover rate among exceptional education teacher aides is extremely high, month after month, year after year.
While surrounding districts pay $2,500 to $4,000 stipends for difficult to fill positions like exceptional education, TUSD only pays a one time signing bonus of $2,500.
TUSD has an unusually high turnover rate among all types of teachers, according to sources, and far and away the highest vacancy rate of all the local school districts and of all the other large school districts. Not a single one of those school districts have teacher vacancy rates that even approach TUSD’s vacancy rate.
While large district like Mesa, Chandler, and Gilbert, are advertising for 9, 8, and 7 teachers respectively, TUSD is advertising for 114 teachers. Sources point out that all three of those districts get less money per student than TUSD, but put 57%, 61%, and 61% of their money into the classroom compared to 49% for TUSD. All three have teacher salaries that are thousands of dollars higher than TUSD pays.
On Saturday, the group of TUSD whistleblowers issued an update on the turmoil within the District under the leadership of Board president Adelita Grijalva and Superintendent H.T. Sanchez. The letter, published in its entirity on the Three Sonorans website, covers the range of issues the District is currently facing from Grijalva’s “exploitive misuse of power” to $800,000 deficit created by “one of HT Sanchez’ Pet Projects- TUSD Day Cares (the Infant and Early Learning Centers).”
According to the whistleblowers letter, TUSD has run at “a deficit of $800,000 which has placed a drain on TUSD’s own revenue, which should be used for no other reasons than its public education of students and NOT day care costs.”
The educators note in their letter that Sanchez’s “son attends the Shumaker Day Care, saving the Sanchez’ family day care tuition when comparing what they would have to pay elsewhere. It is not beyond the narcissistic mentality of Sanchez to do something based on the fact that it serves him. This also applies to his stubborn insistence that Fruchthendler should be converted to a K-6 school, the school his daughter attends. The world, according to HT revolves around HT.”
Currently a recall drive is underway. Recall leader Brian Sauber reported to supporters on Sunday that although his group had been invited to collect signatures at the Labor Day festivities at Reid Park, they were asked to leave “because all the unions, and members have endorsed the people we are trying to recall.” Sauber stated that the TUSD administration has “created a climate of fear and intimidation.”
The union’s support for Grijalva and Sanchez is surprising given that, as the whistleblowers note: “…. HT’s reported class size decrease is another sham. One single example is Sewell’s Kindergarten, with 30 students, however, there are over-sized classes throughout the District.” Thirty students in one kindergarten verges on malpractice. It is inconceivable that a teacher, no matter how experienced, can deliver to 30 students the care and attention they require in kindergarten.
Earlier this year, Board member Mark Stegeman questioned the value of the current union, TEA, to TUSD’s teachers. Stegeman compared TEA to those pro-management unions created by companies in order to only maintain the appearance of worker representation. While the union leaders might be satisfied with that arrangement both students and teachers are toiling amid turmoil.