A new survey from the Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association shows state schools are dealing with more teacher vacancies this Spring. That number jumped by roughly 250 when compared to last year.
Education officials said late spring is typically prime teacher hiring season, but in the last few years, most schools across the state are struggling to get anyone to apply.
Justin Wing is with the Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association. He said low teacher pay is the root cause.
"Most districts are getting zero to one applications during the time I’ll say even 5- or 6-years-ago when you would get hundreds of applicants for teacher jobs. That has been eliminated," Wing said. "Which means there’s no pipeline there’s no pool for all of these openings."
Wing said some schools are filing their openings with candidates who don’t meet the state’s standard teaching requirements.
