Howard Fisher
Capitol Media Services
Gov. Katie Hobbs and a key Republican lawmaker think the stars may align this year for major changes in laws designed to keep teachers in the classroom.
On one hand, a task force formed by the governor came up with what could be considered the usual recommendations: Raise salaries, cut workload and reduce stress. And some of the proposals in the report have been around for years, only to wind up on a shelf.
But Gov. Katie Hobbs who convened the task force that came up with the suggestions, insisted that the outcome will be different this time.
“We’re putting the administration behind what we see as the issues,” she told Capitol Media Services.
And Hobbs sniffed at the idea that has been promised by governors who have come before her.
“They haven’t prioritized this,” she said.
There’s also something else. Even the Republicans who control the Legislature have acknowledged that salaries, the top issue cited by teachers who leave the profession, must be addressed, trotting out their own plan to boost pay by $4,000 across the board. And Sen. Ken Bennett, R-Prescott, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, said he was pleased by what he sees in the report and recommendations.
