There are a lot of questions about the shortage of teachers in Arizona. For example, pay is very low for teachers who are educating the new generations and future world leaders. 34,000 is the number of owned certifications for teaching in Arizona and they are not using that certification to teach students. It’s hard to say why exactly this is, or why it is causing the statewide scarcity for teachers.
First of all, the average pay for teachers in Arizona is about $43,000 a year. Per hour this is $26.21. The pay for teachers in this state is just unfair and makes them unable to live, especially when rent, utilities, groceries and childcare are thrown in the equation.
Teachers in Alabama make about $45,494 a year which is over $2,000 less than what teachers in Arizona make. $2,494 less to be exact. The range for what teachers make in California is between $52,000 and $76,593 which is even more than what they make in Arizona.
There are multiple potential reasons as to why teachers in different states are paid more than educators in Arizona.
A good number of teachers at Verrado High School have not just earned a Bachelor’s degree but also a Masters degree. These teachers spend so much money and time working for these degrees.
Another reason for this shortage of teachers is the fact that they have to deal with difficult kids. Teacher’s go home crying and upset because students don’t listen and are disrespectful to them. The behavioral issues in students today are unacceptable and are worsening the lack of teachers.
Another factor is that teachers work up to about 54 hours in a week! This is more hours than the amount that is considered to be full time, which is 32-40 hours. Teacher’s work “overtime” while the average number of hours Americans work is 40 hours a week.
Although teachers get up to 40 hours of sick leave pay per year, on weekends teacher’s have papers and assignments to look over as well as grades to put in. This is just another inconvenience of being a teacher, there’s rarely any free time, other than when it is a holiday.
According to campussafetymagazine.com on Teacher Shortages by State and How Officials are Trying to Fix the Problem, “…teachers make 33% less than other college-educated workers”. It’s gotten to the point where people in Arizona without degrees can start teaching as long as they are attending college. This continues to show how badly Arizona needs teachers.
Arizona is number eight of the top ten lowest teacher to state ratio.
According to Vernon Beard, a digital photography teacher at Verrado High School, “Of course the number one reason is people want to be paid more for the time that they spend, I don’t think people understand the amount of time and sacrifices the teachers have”.
Mr. Beard has been a teacher at Verrado High School for many years and he understands the struggles for teachers. He has a good idea of why teachers aren’t teaching or quitting their jobs. He has a family to take care of and to spend time with, but his job takes away a lot of that time.
Although he does make enough to provide for his family, he wishes to be paid more like many other teachers. Vernon Beard also said, when asked if he gets enough free time, “Oh no, no way, not at all. You know I get here in the morning, there’s kids here, you got to do some things, you have all kinds of meetings after school, you got games, you got to work”.
Obviously teachers tend to be very busy most of the time and they should get paid as much as the amount of work that they do. The teachers who have been teaching for a while have a better outlook on pay and have different opinions on the shortage, as well as the pay for newer educators.
An example of this is a teacher from Verrado High School, Andrew Garcia, when he was interviewed with the same questions. He had very different responses compared to other teachers. When asked about his personal time he said,”Yes, I definitely do think I have enough personal time, I think it just depends on your ability to juggle work and your personal time”.
The struggle Arizona is having with teachers at the moment is something there can be different opinions about, but there should be something done about the shortage of teachers. The pay for teachers in Arizona should be raised so that this profession is more appealing to the public.
