<body><div><figure><img src="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?type=thumbnail_580x000&amp;url=2Si6DJ_0wAU4J4v00" alt="https://img.particlenews.com/image.php?url=2Si6DJ_0wAU4J4v00" width="900" height="506" ><figcaption>Arizona schools continue to face staffing challenges, leading them to use alternative teachers to fill some roles. (Photo by Finnbarr Webster/Getty Images)</figcaption></figure>PHOENIX — The Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association (ASPAA) has a new survey on teaching position vacancies in the state, which shows that schools are still dealing with staffing challenges.According to the ASPAA survey, more than 8,000 positions were vacant going into this school year.As of September, 25% of those remain vacant and more than half have been filled by teachers using alternative methods, meaning they do not meet standard teacher requirements.“So if you add that together, about 75 of every 100 teacher jobs that we needed to fill are either filled by alternative means or remain vacant,” ASPAA data analyst Justin Wing said.He said that’s been the case since 2016, with the 25% vacancy figure holding true for the past few years.<h2>Arizona schools working to solve staffing challenges</h2>It’s also an issue Arizona school districts are actively working to find their own solutions for, notably when it comes to those alternative methods.That includes the state’s most populous district, Mesa Public Schools.Patty Christie is the director of recruitment and retention for the district and says they’ve seen success with its Path 2 Teach program.It helps anyone with a four-year college degree, even if not related to education, begin the process of leading the classroom.“We do capture quite a few people that are suddenly realizing their excitement and passion for being a teacher and they’re able to go back and do it, certainly through our certification program, without any cost to them,” Christie said.She added they’ve graduated 72 teachers in the program last May and there 73 new participants working to get teacher certification.The district also utilizes new classroom models that allow teachers to share the burden and work in classrooms together.Both Christie and Wing say teacher pay comes up as a top reason there are staffing challenges for teachers.But beyond the pay, they say the job itself puts a lot of stress on teachers, which is another common factor in Arizona’s struggling retention rates.“Addressing the individual needs of every child that comes in your classroom, that can be a daunting task,” Christie said.While districts are doing what they can to keep positions filled and move classrooms around to accommodate the staff they do have, Wing hopes state lawmakers will push for more solutions.He says the core of the problem is we may know why teachers are leaving generally but it’s not as clear why young high school graduates aren’t deciding to become teachers.“Until we solve that we’re probably a broken record and we’ll see similar results in future years too,” Wing said.</div></body>

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Arizona schools continue to face staffing challenges as alternative teachers fill roles

PHOENIX — The Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association (ASPAA) has a new survey on teaching position vacancies in the state, which shows that schools are still dealing with staffing challenges. According to the ASPAA survey, more than 8,000 positions were vacant going into this school year. As of September,...