PHOENIX — Most of Arizona’s schools have resumed in-person learning by now, but not all teachers and staff are returning to the classrooms.
Cary Tyler, Elise Villescaz and Wendy Rosen together have almost 50 years of experience working in Arizona’s public school system. All of them decided 2020’s school year was to be their last.
“I can’t do it anymore,” said Tyler, who last worked as a teacher at Camp Verde High School in Gilbert. “The student’s that know I care, but I can’t continue.”
For 30 years, Tyler has considered himself more than a teacher, but also a mentor to the many students he’s had over the years.
Tyler said a lack of school funding and low salaries were among the reasons he was forced to take up teaching jobs in other states in the past, but after the start of the ‘Red For Ed’ movement in Arizona, he came back home with hope.
But after a historically difficult year during a pandemic, Tyler is once again heading out, this time for good.
“It seems like the pandemic brought out just how much of a problem our public school system in Arizona has,” he said.
He’s not the only educator switching gears, more than half of the nation’s teachers, 54%, said they were considering leaving the profession in the next two years, according to a study from EdWeek Research Center. The findings were a 20% increase over pre-pandemic levels.
“I love my students and it was heartbreaking to leave my classroom,” said Villescaz.
She is the product of Arizona’s school system, first as a student and later as an educator for eight years.
Most recently, she was teaching high school English at the Glendale School District but decided not to renew her contract and opted to go back to school herself.
“This past year with the pandemic I feel like we were asked to put our lives on the line and for me, that was when I knew I no longer could continue, as much as it hurt,” Villescaz said.
Pressure to return to in-person learning, mixed with tense public debate over health guidelines at schools created the perfect storm for educators and school staff, both teachers said.
“I did not feel safe,” said Rosen, who was a health assistant for the Kyrene School District. “When you take a support staff person who is making barely above minimum wage, determine they are essential and don’t think it’s important to tell them, that seems wrong.”
Working while in the middle of the pandemic was a challenging task as constant change, adjustments and health risks led to the passing of a close family friend.
That close call was Rosen’s wake-up call. She is now looking at a career change.
“I still think it’s the right decision I made for my family and myself, but I have guilt that I was able to leave, and other people wanted to and couldn’t,” Rosen said.
A study from the Arizona School Personnel Administration Association found that about 27% of teacher’s vacancies were unfilled by the end of 2020—although schools did some hiring, 47% of those new educators did not meet the state’s standard certification requirements.
“I got texted a couple of days ago from a friend at Phoenix Elementary School District because their science teacher left just a few days before the start of the school,” Villescaz said. “I’m not certified in science.”
All three said they each know of fellow colleagues who have also left their teaching jobs to pursue new careers just this year. A combination of what happened in 2020 and Arizona’s history with educators exacerbated the situation, making it a tough decision to leave.
“We can’t keep sacrificing ourselves just because of our compassion,” Tyler said.
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