The Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association released new data showing the scale of the educator retention crisis in the state’s public schools.

Heading into the 2023-24 school year, there were 7,518 job openings for teachers statewide, according to the Association.

As of September, 18% of those openings were filled by a teacher meeting standard certification requirements; 53% of the job openings (3,997) were filled by teachers not meeting standard certification requirements (for instance, student teachers who have not yet completed their degree); and 29% of the openings (2,229) couldn’t be filled at all and remain vacant months into the school year.

The data shows high numbers of vacancies among education support professionals, including 1,402 unfilled openings for special education paraprofessionals.

“Right now, tens of thousands of Arizona kids lack a fully qualified educator,” Marisol Garcia, Arizona Education Association president, shared in a press release. “The reason is simple: the extremist majority in our legislature has insisted on diverting money away from schools and students and towards vouchers, tax cuts for the wealthy and other programs that benefit the rich and well-connected. As a result, we spend less per student than almost any other state in the nation, and our schools struggle to retain experienced, passionate staff.”