Arizona has a teacher shortage. The state’s top education officials say this fueled it

A survey from the Arizona Department of Education shows over 4,200 teacher positions are filled by long-term substitutes, student teachers, third-party vendors, or existing teachers working through their planning period.

This makes up about 7% of all the positions available for the 2025-26 school year. The survey also shows that over 1,000 teachers left their positions after July 2025, or about 1.8% of all teachers in the 2025-26 school year. Last year, that number was 1.1% of all teachers.

Still, the survey showed the overall percentage of unfilled positions decreased from the previous school year. About 2.4% of positions — a total of 1,400 — were unfilled in the 2025-26 school year, lower than the prior year’s rate of about 2.8%.

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According to Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne, low teacher salaries are partly to blame for the shortage.

“This is an intolerable situation and must be addressed immediately. Teachers have been underpaid for years, and they have also been discouraged by a lack of administrative support for classroom discipline,” said Horne.

The Department of Education reached out to all public education and charter districts in the state with 83% of them responding. The survey was conducted in late August.

Teacher retention remains stagnant

The teacher retention rate has remained stagnant compared to pre-pandemic levels. Out of almost 60,000 teachers in public schools and charter districts, about 20% of teachers either left or switched schools in the 2024-25 school year.

When compared to the national average for teacher retention rates in the 2021-22 school year, the latest data available, Arizona had a lower retention rate by 6%.

According to a survey from the Arizona Department of Education in 2024, the majority of teachers left their district due to burnout, lack of administrative support for classroom discipline and a desire for better pay. Horne has called the lack of attracting and retaining teachers across public school and charter districts a crisis.

“In short, just about any classroom teacher can tell you what they need to thrive as educators and lead students to academic excellence. Better pay and robust support from administrators on discipline are vital,” said Horne.

Horne pushes reauthorization of Proposition 123

In 2016, Arizona voters approved Proposition 123, which increased the distribution of the state’s Permanent Land Endowment Trust Fund to public schools from 2.5% to 6.9% for the next ten years. The measure passed by a narrow margin of less than 2%.

These funds provided an approximate $300 million to schools each year and contributed to teacher and staff compensation, as well as school security and safety. Revenue is generated from the sale or leasing of state trust land and according to the Arizona Treasurer’s Office, the trust fund is currently valued at $9.75 billion.

Horne and Gov. Katie Hobbs urged legislators to renew Proposition 123 before it expired in June 2025.

“If we fail to act, we are throwing away an opportunity to fund teacher pay raises and give Arizona’s children the opportunity they deserve – all without raising taxes on a single Arizonan,” said Hobbs in a statement.

Legislators failed to reach consensus on Proposition 123 by the June deadline, resulting in a $200 million shortfall to public schools that needs to be made up by the state’s General Fund.

Sending a Prop 123 renewal bill to the ballot will be a key priority for lawmakers in the upcoming legislative session, but voters will still need to approve on the measure.

Reporting by Erick Trevino/Arizona Republic. Coverage of education solutions on azcentral.com and in The Arizona Republic is partially supported by a grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation’s Arizona Community Collaborative Fund.