PHOENIX — Arizona school districts are still battling an ongoing teacher shortage. This year, they're turning to incentives and hiring employees with more recruiting experience to enhance their rosters.
Going into his ninth year as a full-time teacher, high school educator Jon Altmann said his salary and being forced into a new teaching assignment made him question heading into year 10.
"I took that as a moment to give some thought to say how much longer I want to do this," Altmann said.
Altmann ultimately chose to stay in the classroom but at a new school and position.
"I look forward to how they develop over the months with the classes," Altmann said. "How many times do I turn their lightbulb on and get a smile out of them? You can tell the enthusiasm on it."
But teachers questioning a career change is something Arizona school districts deal with every year. In the Peoria Unified School District, Joshua Snow, Human Resources director, said they get creative with hiring even with a high teacher retention rate.
"It's still something we have to challenge and work through every day," Snow said. "Some of those strategies that we have emulated is having instructional coaches, content coaches in the classroom, mentorship opportunities for new teachers, increasing the base pay for teachers interested in the district."
The Arizona Department of Education maintains a dashboard on an ongoing basis. It tracks teacher retention statewide. The most recent data from 2023, showed about 16% of teachers were dropped from teaching in Arizona. That number was down from about 18% in 2022, and more than 17% in 2021.
In Peoria, 2023's numbers were lower than the statewide percentage, nearly 13%, dropping according to the dashboard.
"Arizona is experiencing a lot more turnover in teachers in education than other states, but we are proud to say our retention rate and our turnover rate is around 10%," Snow said.
In the Chandler Unified School District, that same teacher retention dashboard revealed about 11% of teachers left in 2023.
Abby Druck, a CUSD Director of Human Resources, said the culture in Chandler is attributed to their higher teacher retention rate.
"While teacher retention is an issue statewide, we've been pretty lucky to stay ahead of the curve so far," she said. "So we're going in with a little over 90 percent teacher retention from last year."
And in Gilbert, there's a similar teacher attrition story. The statewide dashboard showed about 13% of teachers dropped in 2023. The district said that number is typical for them, with the average educator having a tenure of about 10 years.
All three districts are actively recruiting to fill vacancies. Gilbert said they hold job fairs throughout the year and there's a two-year program where educators can earn certification while teaching their own classrooms.
In Peoria, one of the many ways they're looking to gain teachers is through incentives.
"How are we incentivizing folks to go to TSI schools, how are we incentivizing those wonderful teachers to come from other industries into our educational space, and that's through stipends, grants, incentives," Snow said.
CUSD said they've had to rethink retaining and recruiting staff over the last five years or so. One of the top ways is through a revamped mentorship program.
"So we've adjusted our program to include not only a direct mentor for that support but opportunities to be with other new teachers," Druck said. "And we've found that support going into the profession has been critical."
New changes and opportunities similar to the ones Altmann was drawn to, switching to a new district this year. He pointed to his more than two decades in the military for keeping him returning to the classroom despite some of the challenges teaching can bring.
"I'm gifted in being a nag," Altmann said. "I'm a little bit older. I've led young sailors in the Navy as being a senior enlisted leader."
The Arizona Department of Education has a website dedicated to recruiting teachers in Arizona. You can also visit the websites for the different Valley districts you are interested, in to learn more.
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