When I was a child, my friends and I would talk about what we wanted to do when we grew up. Our childhood minds would take us to such places as nursing, secretary, teacher or restaurant owner, depending upon which one of us you asked.
Our summer play time often featured a classroom, office, emergency room or even a restaurant where we would play-act the work that would take place in those settings. All of these were considered lofty and worthwhile career choices. Back then, teaching was one of the most prominent and essential occupations in the United States.
Parents and the community respected and revered teachers because they believed that they were doing a very important job — educating our future citizens and leaders.
Today, according to the U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, the teaching profession encompasses 8% of the college-educated labor force, or nearly 5.3 million Americans teaching in K-12 schools.
According to the data collected on state teacher reports regarding teaching shortages across the country, 1 in 8 teaching positions are either unfilled or filled by a non-certified or non-licensed teacher. To manage staffing shortages, schools are resorting to reducing subjects offered and increasing class size. These drastic measures reflect negatively on the quality of education our students are receiving and also on the morale of the teachers who are working harder than ever with less than ever.
If we examine what has taken place over the last 50 years or so in education, one factor that might be contributing to the exodus of so many teachers from the work force reveals many parents and community members see teachers as cheap babysitters, not the prestigious person substantially influencing a students’ academic, social and life outcomes.
Wages also have remained stagnant and much lower than other equally prominent career choices. Rising college costs, weakening unions and the COVID-19 pandemic also have contributed to the decreased interest in becoming teachers. Because of this, many colleges and universities no longer offer degrees in education.
School ranking reports consistently list Arizona among the worst states for education; with some ranking it last in their 2025 reports.
Arizona’s teacher shortage data warns of widespread and deepening challenges. The number of non-certified teachers fulfilling teaching assignments has increased by more than 60% since 2020. The most recent survey by the Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association reported that 2,261 teaching positions were unfilled in September 2024. These unfilled positions have forced districts to take away existing teachers’ planning time, use paraprofessionals to staff classrooms and rely on contractors from private staffing agencies.
Schools Superintendent Tom Horne has identified teacher recruitment and retention as this state’s most urgent problem, noting one elementary school where all first-grade classrooms are staffed with non-certified teachers. That says all too much about why we are having trouble attracting new teachers.
To complicate matters further, there has been an increased push for parents to consider online school for their students and the use of vouchers to enroll students in charter or private schools. Enrolling a child in a private or charter school does not guarantee fully licensed or certified teachers will be teaching that child, however. Is it any wonder then, that a recent survey revealed that interest in the teaching profession among incoming college students, the number of prospective teachers earning a teaching license, and teachers’ overall job satisfaction reached an historic low between 2010 and 2024?
Never before have we expected so much of our teachers. We want them to instill lofty and prestigious educational goals for our children while teaching them what to do when a school shooter shows up in the classroom. And some parents and administrators think they should keep a gun handy, just in case.
Insufficient funding and poor working conditions also affect teacher satisfaction on the job. The expectations and demands placed on all teachers continually increase while their pay remains stagnant.
It is essential that some of these barriers and challenges are addressed to attract educators to this career where they can continue to shape our youth population toward the high standards and goals we expect and require throughout the upcoming decades. The future of our nation depends upon it.
Editor’s note: Women’s Watch is a cooperative writing effort of the local chapters of the American Association of University Women, the League of Women Voters and the National Organization for Women. This piece was authored by Sharon A. Phelps, a retired high school media specialist and teacher. 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.
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