A new report found that nearly a third of teaching positions in Arizona public and charter schools are still vacant – that’s the most in eight years.
The report from the Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association says the number of open jobs is up more than 26% from the same time last year.
They also found that more than half of the teachers in the classroom this year don’t meet the state’s standard certification requirements but are allowed to teach under an alternative pathway.
Cronkite News reports that advocates say this is further proof of the state’s failure to adequately fund schools.
Arizona teachers had the 32nd-lowest salary in the country in 2021 and the Census Bureau found that the state trailed behind every state except for Idaho when it comes to per-pupil spending in 2022.