Arizona Teacher Shortage Persists as Educators Cite More Than Low Pay

K-12 teacher shortages persist despite the Arizona Department of Education’s (ADE) efforts to attract qualified individuals to the profession. Most recently, the ADE announced it had received a $5 million grant from the U.S. Department of Education to expand “pathways into the special education teaching profession.”

Last year, ADE’s Educator Recruitment and Retention department conducted a teacher shortage impact survey. More than 500 local education agencies (LEAs), public school districts and charter schools participated and the results compiled into a Fall 2025 Report.

Although LEAs planned to hire nearly 58,000 teachers for the 2025-2026 school year,  it filled about seven percent of those positions through long-term substitutes, contracted or classified staff, and student teachers.  Long-term substitutes made up the largest vacancy coverage method at 29.56%, and roughly 67% of Arizona teachers were certified.

KTAR News attributes teacher shortages to “low salaries, high workloads and a variety of other factors.” The media outlet interviewed several educators who had taken a “break” or decided not to renew their contracts. One Buckeye high school English teacher said he had to supplement his income with a second job. A former preschool teacher at the State Schools for the Deaf and Blind left after years of pay freezes.

In an interview with the Arizona Globe, former Phoenix Union educator Theresa Pulido offered an alternative perspective based on her district’s work conditions.

“We know teachers are underpaid. That’s not a revelation. But I don’t believe compensation alone explains why experienced educators are leaving the profession. I believe we need to have a much more serious conversation about student discipline, inadequate administrative support, school safety, transparency, and what happens when teachers raise concerns that administrators may not want to hear,” Pulido said.

Pulido pointed out that state leaders have conducted numerous surveys, established task forces and considered legislation, but none of this has led to lasting change. She noted in 2024, the ADE found that approximately 67% of surveyed teachers identified low pay as a factor for leaving, and nearly 64% agreed or strongly agreed that student behavior and discipline problems contributed to their departure.

In a June 2026 online communication, the ADE referred to Arizona’s teacher shortage as a “crisis.” State Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne—who expressed appreciation for a $300,000 grant his administration received from the National Center for Grow Your Own—declared the shortage “has reached catastrophic proportions.”

Pulido cited laws such as A.R.S. § 15-841 and § 15-843, which allow districts to discipline unruly students, as one reasonADE’s 2026 follow-up survey found that 93% of teachers planning to stay felt “respected” and “supported.” However, when it comes to teacher retention, Pulido said she’s left wondering, “How many times does Arizona need to identify the same problems before we begin holding the people responsible for correcting them accountable?”

Some districts are more affected by low teacher retention than others. ABC15 reported that one in five teachers from Phoenix Elementary and Isaac Elementary districts are leaving the profession, while charter schools have the highest overall attrition rates.

Adding to an already strained situation, ADE’s teacher certification system went offline around October 12, with some webpages remaining under construction. The ADE published a statement that said it had been notified of “a national cybersecurity incident involving Mainstream Technologies, a vendor that supports the certification process.

ADE announced last week that it restored all teacher certification services following the cybersecurity incident, and that the incident compromised no personal information.