For Immediate Release
Contact: AEA Communications Director Emily Kirkland, [email protected], 646 623 5271
STATEMENT FROM ARIZONA EDUCATION ASSOCIATION: NEW DATA SHOWS A DEEPENING CRISIS IN OUR SCHOOLS
PHOENIX – Earlier today, the Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association released new data showing the scale of the educator retention crisis in Arizona’s public schools.
Heading into the 2023-2024 school year, there were 7,518 job openings for teachers statewide. As of September, only 18% of those openings were filled by a teacher meeting standard certification requirements. 53% of the job openings (3,997) were filled by teachers not meeting standard certification requirements (for instance, student teachers who have not yet completed their degree). And 29% of the openings (2,229) couldn’t be filled at all and remain vacant months into the school year.
The data also shows high numbers of vacancies among education support professionals, including 1,402 unfilled openings for special education paraprofessionals.
“Right now, tens of thousands of Arizona kids lack a fully qualified educator. The reason is simple: the extremist majority in our legislature has insisted on diverting money away from educators and students and towards vouchers, tax cuts for the wealthy and other programs that benefit the rich and well-connected.
As a result, we spend less per student than almost any other state in the nation, and schools are struggling to retain experienced, passionate educators. Make no mistake: this crisis will continue to deepen until we invest in our schools,” said Marisol Garcia, president of the Arizona Education Association.
The data from ASPAA is available here:
https://cdn.ymaws.com/www.aspaa.org/resource/resmgr/documents/press_releases/ASPAA_Press_Release_-_Septem.pdf
