Study finds 1 in 5 public school teacher positions unfilled

Teachers rallied at the Arizona Capitol on May 2, 2017, after Rep. John Allen said teachers got second jobs to increase their lifestyle and buy boats. Teachers chanted that they wanted a 4 percent raise from the state. /Photo by Rachel Leingang, Arizona Capitol Times

By Howard Fischer | Capitol Media Services via Arizona Capitol Times

More than 1,300 teaching positions are still unfilled four weeks into the school year according to a new report.

The survey released Tuesday by the Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association of 135 school districts and charter schools found that they began the year with more than 7,000 vacancies. What that means is they could not find qualified applicants for close to one position out of every five.

Related: Arizona is worst state in nation for teacher pay, friendliness, studies find

About 18 percent of Arizona schools will get ‘A’ grade under new ranking system

526 Arizona teachers have already quit this year

Potentially more significant, Justin Wing, the association’s past president who conducted the study, said he found that out more than 500 teachers have resigned so far this year, some simply by abandoning their positions and walking away.

Wing said most of the vacancies are being handled by long-term substitutes. But he said some of the gap was being made up by people teaching extra classes, with other schools either combining classes to the point where it exceeds the school’s class size limits or even where districts had to create multi-grade classrooms.

READ ON:

 

Share this!

Additional Articles

Top master-planned communities for 2024

By AZ Big Media Here are the Top 10 master-planned communities in Arizona, based on public voting for the 2024 edition of Ranking Arizona, the state’s biggest and most comprehensive business opinion poll. Ranking Arizona

Read More »
News Categories

Get Our Twice Weekly Newsletter!

* indicates required

Rose Law Group pc values “outrageous client service.” We pride ourselves on hyper-responsiveness to our clients’ needs and an extraordinary record of success in achieving our clients’ goals. We know we get results and our list of outstanding clients speaks to the quality of our work.

September 2017
M T W T F S S
 123
45678910
11121314151617
18192021222324
252627282930