Teacher shortage prevalent in Yuma

A persistent shortage of teachers in Yuma County has been a problem for the past 30 years, but is also a nationwide phenomenon, according to education professionals.

Arizona produces less than half the amount of teachers needed to fulfill its secondary education staffing requirements, said Toni Badone, Yuma Union High School District superintendent.

It is also a problem for all of Arizona's neighboring states. There are a number of factors contributing. While there is an increase in student population, it has not risen as much lately as in prior years, Badone said.

"For the last 30 years, per pupil funding for the state has gone from the middle of the pack to 48th."

Another difficulty is education competes with other professions that offer better staring salaries, Badone said. She cited law enforcement offering $50,000, compared to education which typically begins at $30,000.

"If we had parity with other professions we'd be more attractive. But also, Yuma is isolated. We need more universities with education programs here. Yuma is a great place to live, but many people don't find out about it on their own."

Darwin Stiffler, Yuma Elementary District 1 superintendent, agreed that Yuma does not have a deep applicant pool and shortages are especially prevalent in math, science and special education. But Yuma advertises for teachers in other states and even has recruiters attend job fairs where there are more teachers than needed.

Kriss Rico, District 1 administrative services director, said because of the economy this past year, District 1 did not recruit out of state.

But one effort Arizona does to alleviate the problem is allow "intern certificates," Rico said. To qualify, teachers must be enrolled in a degree program and appropriately certified in the area they intend to teach.

"But even before this year, Arizona schools were not training enough teachers to meet demand. But I'm optimistic the state will come out of recession and do what we can to raise teacher's salaries."

Deb Hedrick, Crane Elementary School District human resources director, said one of the major problems is the state's redundant requirements for credentialed candidates from other states, among other disincentives.

"One-third of first-year teachers leave the profession within three years. That's more than any other profession. And for those meeting the highly qualified standard, they are often recruited by better-funded districts such as Phoenix."

Laura Noel, Wellton Elementary School District superintendent, agreed many teachers entering the profession go to large metropolitan areas rather than rural towns.

Noel also said that for special education teachers who get endorsements in an area such as autism, they can be required to take 45 additional units that can cost $300 per unit, which is a considerable burden on those teaching full time and raising families.

"It would be great if districts could hire teachers with minimal standards with a time frame to become highly qualified because we can find grants to help them pay for their units."

Doug Rutan, Northern Arizona University-Yuma education coordinator, said that NAU-Flagstaff is now graduating more teachers than any other public institution in the country, but most of those go into elementary education.

However, he said NAU-Flagstaff is a "destination college" similar to Ivy League schools that attract students from all over the globe. Those who arrive from elsewhere often return to their home state upon graduation.

But two years ago, NAU-Yuma began its own marketing program, recruiting at secondary schools as well as Arizona Western College and mapping out an entire four-year curriculum so students know from the beginning the proper courses to take to become a teacher.

"We can show them they can get a quality program right here and its much cheaper than leaving home. We haven't seen a payoff from that effort yet but our numbers are way up, with more than 100 enrolled in all our programs for this year."

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