Arizona Town Hall says Yuma should act now to hire, retain quality teachers

Rotary of Yuma hosted an Arizona think tank that urged significant reforms in order to attract and retain the highest quality teachers possible for the county in a luncheon program Tuesday at the Yuma Golf and Country Club.

Tara Jackson, president of the Arizona Town Hall, a nonprofit that has made public policy recommendations for 46 years, told nearly 100 civic, business, and education leaders to make sweeping changes to improve all levels of instruction.

"We need to act now," Jackson said. "The biggest factor in determining classroom outcomes is the teacher.

"We don't have to spend a tremendous amount of money to make a difference in the environment of teachers but it's still important to pay them salaries they deserve."

Parents as well as education professionals need to contact state legislators and let them know this is a very important issue, Jackson said.

She went on to paraphrase a snapshot of the state's education profile based on a report from the University of Arizona's College of Education. More than half of new teachers leave the profession within five years.

And more than 8 percent of Arizona teachers leave the classroom while they are in their first year of employment. Also, 25 percent of teachers spend less than three years in the classroom before exiting the profession. That is important because in many professions, even those employed are not considered a professional until they have a minimum of several years' experience, she stressed.

The recruitment and retention of qualified math and science teachers at the middle and secondary school level is an acute problem that is especially serious in rural and in poor urban areas. And teacher turn-over costs the state $88.5 million annually, she noted.

"The most prominent reason teachers give for leaving the profession are a feeling of a lack of respect from school administration and parents," Jackson said.

City Councilman Ross Hieb praised the Town Hall for its analysis and and said, it was a premier forum of policy recommendation.

"This is remarkable and establishes a funding mechanism to provide college level preparation for K-12 grades if we follow the template," Hieb said.

Hieb enthusiastically seconded several recommendations. He supported the need to fully fund public schools, including salaries, transportation, utilities and English Language Learners. And he also backed the need for teachers to be competent in their subject areas and that early childhood teachers must be recognized as members of the teaching profession and held to more rigorous and consistent training standards.

Jackson emphasized several other recommendations such as, teaching be defined as a distinguished profession that is structured on a 12-month work year. She also supported higher teacher salaries to remain competitive with other states. And she cited a need to invest in areas of high need such as science, math, technology and engineering.

Gary Wright, a Yuma Elementary District 1 board member told Jackson the Town Hall recommendations were very good. But he noted, one of the major reasons teachers often leave the profession is the time and money teachers must invest in the recertification process required by state law every six years.

He said that continuing education of teachers is a key to student performance but it is unfair for the state to put the burden of re-certification on the teacher and that scares away a lot of out-of-state teachers who might otherwise be drawn to Arizona.

"If we're going to retain teachers we must know why they left," Wright said. "It's not just the money portion. The district has to have feedback, doing surveys and exit interviews. It's important for the administration to be sensitive to teacher concerns."

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William Roller can be reached at wroller@yumasun.com or at 539-6858.