Democratic Gov. Katie Hobbs and a key GOP lawmaker think the stars may actually align this year for major changes in laws designed to keep teachers in the classroom.
On one hand, on Tuesday a task force formed by the governor announced what could be considered the usual recommendations: Raise salaries, cut workloads and reduce stress. Some of the proposals mirror those that have been around for years, only to wind up on a shelf.
But Hobbs, who convened the task force, insisted the outcome will be different this time.
“We’re putting the administration behind what we see as the issues,’’ Hobbs told Capitol Media Services. As for governors who have promised such before her, “They haven’t prioritized this,” she said.
Hobbs immediately took action Tuesday on one of the task force’s suggestions, putting $2 million of COVID-relief funds under her control into an existing “induction’’ program that provides a structured package of support for teachers including regular mentoring, feedback and time for collaborative planning with colleagues.
The stage is set for possible legislative action, as well. The Republicans who control the Legislature are acknowledging that salaries, the top issue cited by teachers who leave the profession, must be addressed. They’ve brought out their own plan to boost pay by $4,000 across the board.
Sen. Ken Bennett, R-Prescott, who chairs the Senate Education Committee, said he is pleased by the report and recommendations in the Hobbs task force report.
“I’m very excited and committed to not doing the same old thing,’’ Bennett said. He knows what’s been done in the past; he served as president of the state Board of Education before being elected the first time to the Senate in 1998 where he was president for two years.
“We’ve been doing yesterday for 20, 30 years,’’ he said. “And we’re getting the same results.’’
Getting it done is going to require all parties to commit to getting different results going forward, and to put aside some political bickering, Bennett said.
Consider, he said, the $4,000 proposal to improve teacher pay. While the details haven’t been released, it’s based on the idea of using dollars from the state land trust, which until now have gone to boost overall education funding. The proposal would instead earmark them for salaries.
“Unfortunately, some of the response was ‘It’s a shell game’ or ‘It’s a whatever,’” Bennett said. “Why not be a little more of good faith and have people come to the table and say, ‘Well, yes, let’s figure out how to raise teacher salaries by $4,000.’”
He said that would raise Arizona’s public teachers’ pay from below the national average to a bit above it. “And that would position us to better attract teachers,’’ Bennett said.
Hobbs pronounced herself “optimistic’’ the recommendations will gain traction at the Republican-controlled Legislature.
“None of these proposals should be politicized,’’ she said.
Proposal sidelined last session
Still, it may be hard to keep the politics out of it.
Rep. Judy Schwiebert, D-Phoenix, pointed out she sponsored legislation last session to have the state raise teacher salaries to the national median. It also would have added $4 an hour to the pay of school counselors and librarians.
It was assigned to the House Education Committee but never got a hearing. Schwiebert took a swat at GOP lawmakers she said sidelined her plan even as they pursue expensive programs they favor.
“It would have cost $1.2 billion, which, as it turns out, is the same amount that we’re spending on the Empowerment Scholarship Account voucher program that we’re not getting any information about as far as ‘are vouchers doing the job for us,’” Schwiebert said.
She isn’t alone. Hobbs continues to argue the universal vouchers program needs to be scaled back. But any mention of moving money away from them has proven to bring talks to a halt.
Marisol Garcia, president of the Arizona Education Association and a member of the Hobbs task force, said what may help force legislative action this time is the report itself, which was based on interviews with nearly 7,800 current educators and more than 700 who quit.
Of those still working, nearly 70% said they had considered quitting in the past 12 months.
“Retention crisis”
In the 2021-22 school year, 58% of Arizona schools struggled or entirely failed to fill teacher vacancies on campus. And as of this year, 18% of Arizona educators surveyed said they were planning to leave the profession, compared with 8% nationally.
That’s why Hobbs said in January that she formed the task force.
“The reality is we don’t have an educator shortage, what we have is a retention crisis,’’ she said at the time. “There are too many amazing professionals who had to leave a career they love because of the uncompetitive salaries, onerous policies, and unfunded mandates that rob educators of the joy of teaching.”
That turnover comes with a cost to students.
The report cites studies that teacher effectiveness continues to steadily increase until the 12th year, with the largest gains in student achievement occurring during a teacher’s first five years in the classroom.
But in Arizona, a third of all teachers have four years or less experience, with fewer than half having 10 or more years in the classroom.
“I’m hoping that, institutionally, bringing these numbers forward and giving the legislators actual data, as well as people showing up and talking to them, that there could be a chance for this to actually move through the Legislature,’’ Garcia said.
Health care, parental leave issues
Bennett noted that the task force found there are other ways to put more cash into the pockets of teachers. One is by taking less out of their checks in the first place.
“Contributions to healthcare plans can range widely across the state and depend on the health plan that each school district or charter school chooses,’’ the report says. “Family and dependent coverage can be up to five times the contribution required for individual employees and was cited frequently by educators as a concern.’’
That presents an opportunity for legislative intervention, Bennett said.
“Maybe there’s some way to say if a district or a charter school employs you as a full-time teacher, we’re going to pool all of those people into one health insurance program,’’ he said, a move that could save teachers thousands of dollars a year.
There are other non-cash options.
One recommendation asks the governor to support policies that provide educators and school personnel with 12 weeks of paid parental leave for childbirth, adoption or fostering.
That idea is not foreign to Hobbs. Earlier this year she directed the state Department of Administration to provide state workers with up to 12 weeks off for any new baby in the house during a 12-month period.
Hobbs had the authority to order that for state workers by executive order. But extending the benefit to employees of schools would require either that districts offer it themselves or that the Legislature act — and, potentially, financial assistance.
Stress and workloads
Still, the report finds that money, while at the top of the concerns of educators, is only part of the problem.
“Eighty percent of former educators cited ‘feeling burned out’ and 73% cited ‘unable to have a healthy work-life balance’ as the top factors contributing to their decision to leave the classroom,’’ the task force said.
The report also cites a Gallup poll that says those working in K-12 education report the highest rate of physical and mental stress of all U.S. professions.
“These high rates are caused by many factors, including workload, student behavior, and lack of administrative support,’’ according to the task force.
The solution to that, the report says, includes decreasing class sizes or student loads and ensuring teachers have adequate preparation time. But this, like many of the other recommendations, comes at a cost which was not computed in the study.
Hobbs praised the panel for its work.
“I think your recommendations demonstrate a clear understanding of the issues and what’s needed to make meaningful change in the system,’’ she said.
