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If you’ve been tuned into what’s happening in Arizona’s schools, you know that the state has struggled to find—and keep—teachers in its classrooms.
According to the National Education Association, the average teacher pay in Arizona is $64,291, ranking. No. 31 in the US and falling below the national average.
As school districts face this issue, some of them are looking internationally to find teachers.
The Arizona Republic reports that the Balsz Elementary School District is considering partnerships with three organizations that would recruit teachers from outside the state and US—and it already employs two teachers who were recruited through the International Alliance Group.
Teachers recruited from outside the US must still meet all of the normal requirements to teach here.
I asked what our readers thought about the state’s teacher shortage, and here’s what they said:
💬 “School funding is the real issue. Link that ranking to teacher pay. Are college graduates leaving AZ to teach and/or are fewer students pursuing a teaching credential? I worked in public education for 40 years. This shortage started many years ago as college students recognized that their financial goals couldn’t be met working in a school district. They turned to the private sector. Public funding just isn’t keeping up. Seeking teachers from out of the country is akin to all of our off-shore manufacturing. School districts in my area turned to out of country recruiting. We got what we paid for. Not the answer.” — Valarie D.
💬 “Teachers should make as much as Doctors and Lawyers. That way they would not only want to be here we would be giving our kids and our future the best we can. I’ve never understood why the most important job that has so much impact on the future of humanity pays so little. They should be at the top of the pay scale and there should be more of them with smaller classes.” — Sandra M.
💬 “I think it’s terrible that teachers don’t make more money per year. For all the hours the work and what they have to put up with from parents and children. Good Lord, we need to to raise their salary quite a bit.” — Jackie F.
💬 “In Finland, the best and brightest students are recruited to teach and are paid accordingly.” — Jana M.
💬 “I was a teacher for 10 years and pay is only one of the problems. The other problem is the lack of support from administrations and parents. By the time students got to middle school, they were either well-behaved and decent kids or holy terrors! Parents don’t think their kids are the problem and therefore don’t help with discipline. The administrations bow to the parents and that leaves teachers to deal with the fallout. I’m so glad I got out prior to the DEI nonsense. That has NO bearing on education and actually hurts all students. If you tell someone they aren’t good enough, then they believe it. STOP! Everyone has the ability to learn and make good choices.” — Kirsten C.
💬 “Deplorable. We will suffer the consequences.” — Gary B.
💬 “You get what you pay for. Arizona does not prioritize education and looks for ways to keep the cost of learning as low as possible. If foreign teachers from who-knows-where with dubious credentials, and willing to ‘teach’ for low pay are hired, then mediocre education is the likely result. That model is very short-sighted, unless the goal is a poorly educated populace. What else is Arizona short-shrifting that we are NOT thoroughly aware of? Water adequacy and quality? Air quality? Medical aid? Adequate housing? Infrastructure? Parents who value quality education for their kids are scrambling to find schools that measure up, and then scrambling to find resources to pay for that. Arizona could be a great state, but lack of supporting quality public education is one of the biggest black marks against this state.” — Patricia D.
Editor’s note: As a reminder, teachers recruited from outside the US must still meet all of the normal requirements to teach here.
