4 Root Causes We Can Address to Retain Arizona Teachers
One year my granddaughter had an unusually special teacher. Mr. M was kind, structured, positive, and a knew how to ignite a child’s imagination in the classroom. Every day he would write a thought-provoking question or a quote on the board for students to explore throughout the day. As challenges arose, he would help students brainstorm and persevere until they found solutions. In his classroom, every voice mattered; he recognized every child’s unique contribution, talked about their strengths, and challenged them to not to settle. The last day of school he even met with students one by one to encourage their career aspirations and tell them what special genius they brought to the classroom.
Why do I bring up this incredible teacher? I share his story because he’s not a teacher anymore. Shortly after that year, Mr. M left the profession to find compensation that would provide for his growing family. While he sparked hope and vision in my granddaughter’s life, his potential to impact thousands more over a lifetime teaching career was cut short. In fact, Mr. M is one of hundreds of thousands of teachers who have quit the profession in the last few years. To date, we have a national teacher shortage that is not fully overcome by recruiting and employing under qualified talent. The trend has been so consistent and so pronounced, that it forces us to ask, “What is the price we pay when effective, qualified teachers vanish from the workforce?”
The impact of losing teacher talent.
The most obvious and immediately troubling outcome from the teacher disappearance is a negative impact on student achievement. Multiple studies show that student performance is directly connected to consistent quality teaching. This is true for core curriculum such as mathematics and ELA, but the problem grows beyond individual classes. High teacher attrition in a school causes a domino effect as fewer staff members stretch to cover the workload. As schools compensate, they reduce instructional improvements, decrease collaborative team teaching, increase class sizes and provide fewer class offerings for students.
But wait, can’t we simply replace quality teachers like Mr. M with new ones when they leave? According to the most recent data from the National Center for Educational Statistics, two-thirds of public schools reported that a shortage of qualified candidates was the primary challenge to filling teaching positions. Yet, even if we resolve the hiring shortage, high numbers of leadership changes in teaching staff continue to negatively impact student achievement. This includes school to school movement within a school district. Thus, we find that not only is recruiting new talent expensive and time consuming, it also doesn’t close the gap fast enough to avoid student impact.
A look at solutions for root causes.
So, what can we do? Like any challenge, it helps to find solutions for the root causes.
1. Teacher Burnout: Have You Seen Me?
The unprecedented strain put on teachers during the pandemic resulted in a loss of 730,000 staff leaving public education in 2020. According to Gallup: The State of Schools Report 2024, “Thirty-nine percent of K-12 teachers say they experience burnout very often or always…and 42% of K-12 employees overall said they were treated with disrespect — the highest rate among any industry”.
This is very hard to overstate.
The good news is that rallying the community to support and champion teachers can help reduce burnout! When principal, Cheri Grau from Holbrook Junior High first heard about the School Connect CAFE program, she saw it as an opportunity for her teachers to know that they weren’t alone. Her belief was rewarded as parents who were invited to assist teachers during lunch responded with enthusiasm. Over 50 parents signed up to join the children and give teachers a much-needed break! The experience also gave parents wonderful exposure to their child’s school environment and provided teachers a bit more time for their many tasks. Even within the first year they noticed that quality relationships were forming which impacted morale and uplifted the school atmosphere. Watch their story here.
2. Equitable Compensation
According to the Economic Policy Institute and recently reported by Education Week, teachers are paid 23.5% less than other working professions or “80 cents on the dollar earned by similar college-educated workers in those states”. The Bureau of Labor Statistics clarifies this further showing that when you adjust for inflation, teacher salaries have not significantly increased in more than two decades.
Community action can be a tool to change this. One of the best ways to advocate for educators is by highlighting their work and telling their stories. At School Connect, we understand just how powerful our collective voices can be, and invite you to help us tell the stories of teachers like our School Connect’s 2024 Hero Maker Award winner. By nominating a teacher for an award or by sharing a story that shines a light on the inspiring work happening in schools across the country, we can make a difference for educators.
3. Student Well Being
Student mental health and behavior challenges have increased significantly since COVID and it is taking concerted effort to bring adequate support. In March of 2024, NCES reported that 60% of all schools reporting showed an increase in staff concerns regarding students exhibiting depression, anxiety, trauma, or emotional dysregulation or disturbance.
While professional resources should be accessible to assist any child in need, we can work on supporting student belonging in the classroom through partnerships and community initiatives. Recently the Phoenix Suns/Phoenix Mercury worked with School Connect to reward and incentivize students around school attendance, volunteerism, and positive classroom behavior with a program called “Play it Forward.” Amidst giddy student cheers, and glowing faces, students got to meet Mascots, Scorch and the Phoenix Suns Gorilla, watch the Phoenix Mercury dancers and hear about how important it was to show up to school and give back to our community. Students were then rewarded for positive behavior, volunteerism, and school attendance with special Phoenix Suns basketballs handed to them by rookie players! It is moments like these which show us the power of coming together for a cause worth our time, energy and investment – our children.
4. Teacher Support
A well-supported teacher has the tools and resources needed to meet expectations and be successful in the classroom. This includes classroom resources and supplies (94% of public school teachers spend their own money on basic classroom supplies) as well as quality onboarding, professional development, teacher mentoring, team teaching, wellbeing initiatives, and clear advancement programs. Support can be especially important for teams working in Title One schools with high numbers of children who are vulnerable due to poverty or minority status.
Fortunately, there are many ways we can support teachers as a culture and in our communities.
Until August 30th, sign up with the City of Phoenix Youth and Education Commission to be part of their annual event called Partner with a Principal. Between September 9th and October 18th, local leaders will shadow a principal for a day to see the world through their eyes and discover ways they can partner. There is nothing quite like walking in an educator’s shoes to understand what is needed and discover how we can help! There are two more days to sign up. Watch the story here.
Another innovative approach to supporting teachers and students comes to us from a dynamic partnership between Arizona State University and Helios Education Foundation. Together they built the ASU Helios Decision Center for Excellence to combine their collective resources as thought leaders and stakeholders, carving a clear pathway to identify and implement system wide support and growth in our education system. The new “ASU-Helios” data tool collects research, providing visibility on data trends and helps leaders evaluate these patterns, giving us the power to problem solve and design better solutions for educators, students, and communities. Our School Connect team was thrilled to be introduced to this tool and is looking at ways we can help design solutions both in support of organizations like Teach for America, and in partnership with the rich and diverse community leaders we have grown to know and love around our great state.
For a way you can personally connect with teachers, School Connect invites you to sign up today for Love Our Schools Day. Your commitment to volunteer your time at a local school sends teachers the message that we see their tireless work and we value their commitment to our children.
Our partner, Pure Heart Church, recently gifted hundreds of supply kits to educators for the back-to-school season. On the supply bag was written this quote. “Teachers change the world one child at a time.” School Connect invites you join us in sharing this message far and wide, because, as the Arizona Education Foundation reminds us, every story includes a teacher.
With gratitude,
Tracey Beal
Founder & CEO, School Connect
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