On Friday, Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Diane Douglas announced the release of the Arizona Department of Education’s Educator Retention and Recruitment Task Force’s released its second report on the state of Arizona’s teacher shortage.
The Educator Retention and Recruitment Task Force, which is composed of ADE staff, school and district personnel and other education stakeholders, was established to identify issues causing the shortage of teachers and to share ways “we can all work together to address the problem,” according to Douglas.
“All of my efforts as Superintendent are driven by the idea that Arizona children should leave school with the knowledge they need to determine their future, achieve their goals and be successful citizens,” said Superintendent Douglas. “Unfortunately, without highly effective teachers in every classroom we will always fall short of that goal. My hope is that by working together, we can use this report to end the teacher shortage and give our students the best education system in the nation.”
Included in the latest report are in-depth analyses of four critical factors that relate to strong educator retention and recruitment. These include economic impact; salaries, experience and quality; professional learning; and promising practices. Also discussed are several projects and efforts at the Arizona Department of Education that will support schools in their retention and recruitment efforts.
“As a former administrator, I can relate all too well to the sobering statistics addressed in this report,” said Dr. Cecilia Johnson, ADE Associate Superintendent for Highly Effective Teachers and Leaders and chair of the Task Force. “Given the importance of quality instruction to student achievement, the Department is developing resources and programs that can help our schools find and keep the outstanding teachers they need to be successful.”
Educator retention and recruitment was a key component of Superintendent Douglas’ AZ Kids Can’t Afford to Wait! Plan, which was released on Oct. 1, 2015. The plan included proposals for increased teacher salaries, enhanced preparation programs and strengthened teacher mentoring structures.
Findings include:
In a recent news article by the local CBS affiliate, teachers reported leaving the profession due to low salaries. Andrew Morrill, president of the Arizona Education Association, reported his organization found that the top reason teachers leave the profession was that Arizona teachers’ salaries are so low. “The average beginning teacher salary in the state of Arizona is $31,874. We have teachers coming out of university with debt and they are struggling to make ends meet. With the cuts from various areas teachers have had to delve into their own funds to supplement their classrooms.” (Loew 2015).
Graduates compare the annual salaries of a variety of professions to determine where they will make gainful employment. MIT compared the typical annual salary of a variety of occupations:
| Occupational Area | Typical Annual Salary |
| Management | $90,830 |
| Computer & Mathematical | $76,010 |
| Legal | $73,210 |
| Architecture & Engineering | $72,100 |
| Healthcare Practitioners & Technical | $67,000 |
| Business & Financial Operations | $60,020 |
| Life, Physical, & Social Science | $58,580 |
| Installation, Maintenance, & Repair | $41,620 |
| Education, Training, & Library | $39,970 |
| Community & Social Service | $38,960 |
| Arts, Design, Entertainment, Sports, & Media | $38,440 |
| Construction & Extraction | $37,770 |
| Office & Administrative Support | $32,900 |
Cost of Living vs. Salary Comparison
The living wage, as an hourly rate, for an individual to support two adults and two children, if he/she is the sole provider and is working full-time in Phoenix, AZ is $19.55 (Glasmeier & MIT, 2015). The poverty rate for an individual supporting two adults and two children and working full-time in Phoenix is $10.60 (Glasmeier & MIT, 2015). The typical hourly wage of an educator in Phoenix is $18.72 (Glasmeier & MIT, 2015). The typical teacher’s salary is insufficient to support two adults and two children if he/she is the family’s sole provider. While the hourly rate of the typical educator in Phoenix is $8.12 an hour above the poverty rate, over a 40 hour work week a teacher, who has earned at least a bachelor’s degree, makes only $328.80 a week more than an individual living in poverty.
Inflation of Salaries in Education vs. Other Professions
Between 2004 and 2013, many professions and the minimum wage experienced an increase in starting salaries. While starting teacher salary increased from $26,711 in 2004 to $32,073 in 2013, this 20% increase was far less than the increase in salaries of other professions during this time frame (NACE, 2004; NACE, 2013; ASBA, 2013). The following table provides a summary of the increase in salaries between 2004 and 2013, and starting teacher salary is firmly entrenched in the bottom position.