Arizona educator discipline cases surge as state clears backlog
Image by: Metro Creative
Arizona educator disciplinary cases have more than doubled since 2022, but state officials say expanded oversight, additional investigators and efforts to clear a backlog, rather than a documented surge in misconduct, are driving much of the increase.
Discipline cases against Arizona educators have risen sharply in recent years, including a more than fourfold increase in cases categorized as assault since 2022.
But state education officials caution that the increase does not necessarily mean misconduct is occurring more frequently in Arizona schools.
Instead, officials attribute much of the growth to increased investigative resources, efforts to clear a backlog of cases and expanded authority over school employees who do not hold teaching certificates.
Cases categorized as sexual misconduct also increased, from 50 in 2022 to 106 in 2023. The board adjudicated 94 such cases in 2024 and 113 in 2025.
Overall, the board adjudicated 381 cases in 2025, compared with 163 in 2022.
However, the year a case is adjudicated does not represent the year the misconduct occurred, making it difficult to determine whether the underlying behavior has become more common.
More resources help clear disciplinary backlog
The state board said additional funding and staffing have allowed investigators to process cases that previously remained unresolved.
"The rise in adjudicated cases is primarily driven by increased legislative funding for investigative staff and administrative support, along with securing outside counsel to address representation turnover," said Garnett Burns, director of enforcement actions for ADE. "This has allowed the board to process and resolve its backlog much more efficiently, rather than reflecting a direct spike in underlying educator misconduct."
The board's annual report also documents efforts to improve the efficiency of its disciplinary system, including additional legal resources and expanded use of Professional Practices Advisory Committees, which review cases and recommend disciplinary actions.
These changes have increased the number of cases reaching final resolution, even when the underlying conduct occurred years earlier.
More school employees fall under state oversight
Another factor contributing to the increase is the expansion of the board's authority over certain school employees who do not hold teaching certificates.
Arizona lawmakers expanded the SBE's disciplinary authority in 2021 to include certain noncertificated school employees working directly with students, allowing the board to investigate misconduct involving personnel previously outside its oversight.
According to the board, this expansion contributed to the increase in adjudicated cases between 2023 and 2025.
In 2025, the board adjudicated 78 cases involving noncertificated personnel, more than any individual certificated employee category.
The expansion means the board now reviews misconduct involving a broader range of school employees, making comparisons with earlier years more complicated.
What counts as assault?
Although the number of assault-related cases increased dramatically, the board's classification includes more than physical attacks against students.
According to state education officials, the assault category encompasses nonsexual physical misconduct occurring both on and off school grounds.
It can include incidents between adults, including certain domestic violence cases involving the presence of children.
As a result, 203 assault-related cases adjudicated in 2025 should not be interpreted as 203 incidents in which educators assaulted students.
The category accounted for 53% of the board's adjudicated cases in 2025, compared with 30% involving sexual misconduct.
Sexual misconduct cases remain elevated
Sexual misconduct cases followed a different pattern, more than doubling between 2022 and 2023 before declining in 2024 and increasing again in 2025.
The state board said sexual misconduct allegations receive high priority and frequently involve parallel criminal investigations by law enforcement.
Officials also pointed to enhanced reporting requirements and training designed to help school employees recognize grooming behaviors, professional boundary violations and conduct requiring mandatory reporting.
In 2025, school officials accounted for about half of the reports associated with cases adjudicated by the board.
However, the agency cautioned against assuming that additional training directly caused the increase.
"We don't currently have hard data to share regarding how training impacts cases," the board said in its response to questions.
That distinction is significant. Increased awareness and reporting could contribute to more cases reaching investigators, but the available data do not establish how much of the increase can be attributed to better reporting rather than changes in misconduct itself.
Disciplinary actions remain relatively uncommon
Despite the growth in cases, the board's report indicates disciplinary actions involve a small portion of Arizona's education workforce.
According to the 2025 report, about 98.4% of the state's education workforce did not appear in the disciplinary actions examined.
The report cautions its workforce comparison is an approximation because disciplinary cases span multiple years while employment figures reflect a single school year.
The board's enforcement statistics also do not capture every allegation of misconduct.
The annual reports focus on cases adjudicated by the board, rather than all complaints received or investigations that remain open.
Consequently, the figures cannot establish how frequently misconduct occurs in Arizona schools or whether students face greater risks than in previous years.
What the numbers mean for parents
For parents, the increase can raises questions about school safety, employee accountability and how effectively allegations are investigated.
The data show the state is taking action on more disciplinary cases than it did several years ago.
They also demonstrate how changes in investigative staffing, reporting practices and the employees subject to oversight can influence annual totals.
The board's public disciplinary database allows families to review completed enforcement actions involving educators and other personnel under its jurisdiction.
While the rise in adjudicated cases is substantial, the available evidence does not establish a comparable increase in misconduct occurring in Arizona schools.
What it does show is a state enforcement system operating with broader authority and resolving considerably more cases than it did just a few years ago.
Editor’s note: A grant from the Arizona Local News Foundation made this story possible. The foundation awarded 15 newsrooms to pay for solutions-focused education reporters for two years. Please submit comments at yourvalley.net/letters or email them to AzOpinions@iniusa.org. We are committed to publishing a wide variety of reader opinions, as long as they meet our Civility Guidelines.
Meet Stacy Stacy Mantle is joining the team at Independent Newsmedia, Inc. as an Education Solutions journalist, thanks to a grant from the Arizona Community Collaborative. She has a long history in education that ranges from teaching junior high and middle school to developing curriculum and standards-based assessments.
Community: A longtime advocate for animal welfare, Stacy is deeply involved in rescue efforts and volunteers with several nonprofit organizations.
Random Fact: Once upon a time, she shared her home with a pet coyote and two wolf hybrids. The experiences were wild enough to become the subject of her first book!
Education: She holds a BA in English with a minor in Political Science, a Post-baccalaureate in Secondary Education, and an MBA with a emphasis on Marketing.
Hobbies: In her spare time, Stacy writes fast-paced urban fantasy novels, crafts small-batch artisan soap, and is always up for hiking or off-roading through the Arizona wilderness with her husband of 23 years.
By 
Comments
No comments on this item Please log in to comment by clicking here