Douglas education plan focuses on pay, ending Common Core

PHOENIX — State schools chief Diane Douglas is calling for higher teacher pay, an end to teaching “racism” in schools, a requirement for high school graduates to be able to speak a foreign language, and allowing parents to refuse to let their children take standardized tests.

Douglas also wants Arizona to sever all ties with Common Core, saying that will allow the state to create better — and more rigorous — academic standards.

Douglas unveiled the proposals Thursday, the result, she said, of her “listening tour” around the state.

Some appear largely uncontroversial, having more emergency response drills for “active shooter” situations. She also wants to give parents a better idea of what information her agency collects and with whom it is shared.

Douglas also wants better guidance for schools to review career options with children with more support for technical education. But that is tied to a more controversial view that society “over emphasizes the importance of receiving a college degree for all students.”

Her main focus is on attracting and retaining good teachers. The most difficult part of that is it will take a financial commitment from the Legislature.

“Our teachers have officially reached the lowest paid in the nation, according to one recent study, and Arizona is third from the bottom of places for teachers to work,” Douglas said in prepared remarks. “We have a teacher shortage, have extended the time substitutes can teach, are trying to recruit teachers from the Philippines and China, and have a turnover rate of around 45 percent in the first two years of teaching.”

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Money, Douglas said, is a big part of that.

She said the average starting salary for a teacher in Arizona is $31,874, with the average for all teachers at $46,358. She said that compares with a national average of $54,000.

Douglas also said while starting salaries were 20 percent higher in 2013 than a decade earlier, they have not kept pace with other professions.

She proposes to use $400 million from funds available now, supplementing that in future years as necessary with what she said are excess earnings from the state land trust.

Douglas, elected on a platform of scrapping the Common Core academic standards, is renewing that battle with her recommendations.

She tried to push through that effort in February by firing two top employees of the state Board of Education. Gov. Doug Ducey declared Douglas did not have the right to fire the employees and the board, which supports the standards, fought back.