Don’t read any further. Just go to Howard Fischer’s article, Arizona 6th worst in the U.S. for teachers. It’s all there. However, if you want my take on his story and a quick summary of some of the facts and figures, read on.
Teachers don’t go into the profession for the money. I’ve never heard any teachers, when asked what they do, answer, “I’m a teacher. Ka-ching!” But that’s not to say that poor-but-honest teachers wouldn’t like to have a little more change in their pockets.
A study reported that Arizona is 44th in its starting salary for teachers, and that accounts for the different standards of living in the states.
Median teacher salaries? Arizona is 48th.
And along with their low salary, Arizona teachers can look forward to bigger class sizes. True, that means more students to love, but …
Recent reports say more than a third of Arizona’s teachers leave every year (A TUSD administrator I spoke to estimated about half of those are retirees, which makes the actual “leavers” more like one in six). Arizona can’t replace all of them. Hundreds of classrooms are staffed with long term substitutes, who will be replaced by other long term subs if districts can’t find teachers to fill the slots.
I’m sure some of the leaving teachers move on to other professions, though the weak job market isn’t exactly encouraging the exodus. But how many of the exiting teachers are finding students to love in other states where they can earn higher salaries, teach fewer kids, and maybe get a few classroom perks like boxes of Kleenex, crayons and — be still, my heart — paper supplied by the district? I don’t know the numbers of those who have fled the state, but for teachers who are footloose enough to pack up and go, what could possibly convince them to stay?
This article appears in Sep 25 – Oct 1, 2014.
The demise of the GOP leadership in the state.
The salary determination for individuals applying for Teaching Positions is TUSD is outrageous; and this with the approval of the current Board, Tucson Education Association, and TUSD Central Administration:
CONSENSUS AGREEMENT FOR
2013-2014: 30-2 (A) Schedule Placement: “…..Acceptable experience is
limited to that gained within the last ten (10) years…..”
This is an absolute cap on crediting an Applicant with Teaching experience.
Applicants, for example, one forty (40) years or older, that has been
teaching continuously for thirty (20) years, and another, with 10 years
experience, will both be given credit for the ten (10) years just prior to the
application process.
The absolute ten (10) year cap on crediting Applicants their Teaching
experience has a negative disparate effect on Applicants forty years (40) and older.
This is a Hiring Scam designed to save TUSD money by failing to
credit Applicants with their teaching experience in violation of the
Age Discrimination in Employment Act of 1967.
This Hiring Scam is currently under challenge in the Federal Courts.
My cousin was a teacher in Monroe County in NY state, and earmed over $70,000 per year teaching second grade. She also had a great retirement, but at what cost to the taxpayer? Her school taxes alone, on a $250,000 condo were $4,500 per year, in addition to $2,500 in property taxes. How many Arizonans could, or would want to spend this much to satisfy higher teacher salarys? Also, I know several teachers and they all said they went into teaching to have the summers off with their kids. I worked 12 months a year, while they were home during the summer.
There is no magic involved; quality teaching is a commodity subject to basic economics. If Arizona wants to move up from its poor student performance relative to most other states the best thing it can do is attract and retain more high quality teachers. The only variable that schools provide that makes a difference in student learning is quality teaching. The law of supply and demand tells us that those states and school districts that pay more will have more applicants for every job opening. In many districts that pay excellent salaries to teachers there are literally hundreds of applicants for each and every opening. Principals get to choose between applicants for each and every teaching position, generally including several exceptional applicants. Compare that with TUSD, where the superintendent thought it did a good job this year because there were “only” about a hundred unfilled teaching positions at the opening of school.
Nobody is going to jump up and down demanding to pay more taxes to ensure their kids’ teachers get better pay, but most tax-payers will pay more if they are assured the extra money will result in more student learning. The only way that school districts and states can make that commitment to taxpayers is by doing all they can to attract and retain the high quality teachers that all students deserve. Teachers are more mobile than they ever were and they will change districts and even change states for economic advancement. No one should be surprised that most of those districts that pay significantly higher salaries to teachers have much better student results than those districts where more than a handful of the teaching staff qualify for food stamps. Compare the salaries for teachers in Massachusetts, Minnesota and Maryland with the salaries of teachers in Mississippi, Louisiana, and South Carolina. The first three states have very high student achievement…even compared with students in top scoring foreign countries. The last three states have student performance slightly better than the performance of students in third world countries.
Administration doesn’t seem to be hurting! As a teaching statistic myself, lasting an abysmal 4 years, I was making less my 4th year than I did my first. More students, fewer supplies, less support, and no leadership were just a few reasons I left. When I calculated my hourly pay I was making right around $10.00 per hour. I realized could bag groceries at Whole Foods with better benefits with less stress and actual weekends, thus securing my decision to quit teaching. The farther you go up the ladder in education the more you make and the less you do was what I saw. It’s tragic, there is money in education it is grossly mismanaged.
Take for example the amount of money each student with a disability is allotted by our government to assist/facilitate their education. For students with more severe conditions and extensive needs that amount could go up to 35,000 per year or more. Most programs for students with disabilities have to fight tooth and nail for basic items, appropriate adaptive materials, staffing, modified bathroom equipment etc. Why? Because that money is reprehensibly mismanaged. The fact that most schools don’t even have paper or enough books for each student is deplorable.
We need to stop making excuses and work our way from the top down… teachers should be making the big bucks, they do the true work in the schools.
Close TUSD!
I am a teacher here in Arizona and I can assure you that I am not “home in the summer” with my family. I am teaching summer school, planning in my classroom for the upcoming school year (without pay), paying for professional development in order to keep my teaching certificate, and during the school year I work a minimum of 52 hours per week. I can also assure you that with working year round I do not earn anywhere near what a certain commenter shared.
The crushing economic and social poverty that is the result of Arizona’s crusade to eliminate teachers will come back to haunt lawmakers. Teachers might find more gainful employment teaching at one of the mushrooming prison complexes that are rapidly replacing schools.
Teachers in Arizona may be underpaid but they have to take money out of their own pockets to purchase needed classroom supplies. This is true nationwide but amplified here in this state by our continued meager funding of our schools. You can join me in supporting our teachers by adopting a classroom, go to http://www.adoptaclassroom.org, find a classroom in one of your local districts and help the teacher out. 100% of what you give will go directly to that teacher.
And support more funding for education and more pay for our hardworking teachers.
Congrats to Rat T for being the first to have his comment deleted for going way off topic. No, Mr. T, this post isn’t about Obama. Maybe you can get there through six degrees of cognitive separation, but sorry, not good enough.
Mr. T, if you want to complain about the deletion (which is a bit silly, since you still have a ton of comments up), don’t do it in the comments section. Please do it by emailing mailbag@tucsonweekly.com. It will be forwarded to me.