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This Arizona educator says teacher retention is as important as recruitment

Arizona has been dealing with a teacher shortage for several years, and new data show the situation isn’t necessarily getting better.

The Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association’s survey shows as of January, there are nearly 2,900 openings. Of the vacancies that have been filled, more than 40% of them are by teachers who don’t meet the state’s standard certification requirements.

Lennon Audrain is a teacher at Skyline High School in Mesa Public Schools and a researcher on the Next Education Workforce Team at Arizona State University's Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. The Show spoke with him about what he makes of the new numbers.

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Mark Brodie is a co-host of The Show, KJZZ’s locally produced news magazine. Since starting at KJZZ in 2002, Brodie has been a host, reporter and producer, including several years covering the Arizona Legislature, based at the Capitol.