{"id":3590,"date":"2026-07-15T05:33:26","date_gmt":"2026-07-15T05:33:26","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=3590"},"modified":"2026-07-15T05:33:26","modified_gmt":"2026-07-15T05:33:26","slug":"new-survey-asks-why-arizona-teachers-are-staying-not-why-theyre-leaving","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=3590","title":{"rendered":"New survey asks why Arizona teachers are staying, not why they\u2019re leaving"},"content":{"rendered":"
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PHOENIX (AZFamily)<\/b> \u2014 Arizona has struggled for years to retain public school teachers, and a new state survey is taking a different approach to understanding the problem, asking educators why they are staying rather than why they are leaving.<\/p>\n

Read more Tucson Now: Bill Hiney\u2019s plan for Tombstone City Council<\/a><\/p>\n

The \u201cWhy I Stay: Educator Retention Survey 2026\u201d found that the top reason teachers remain in Arizona classrooms is feeling safe at their school. State Superintendent Tom Horne said the finding aligns with a priority he has pushed during his time in office.<\/p>\n

\u201cI feel vindicated because that\u2019s what I talk about when I talk to the legislature every year,\u201d Horne said.<\/p>\n

Horne said the number of police in Arizona schools has grown from 117 when the program started to nearly 500.<\/p>\n

What the survey found<\/h2>\n

The survey collected responses from certified teachers who have chosen to remain in the classroom. Across open-ended responses, the most frequently cited reason for staying, appearing in 1,029 responses, was the relationship teachers have with their students and the impact of their work.<\/p>\n

Approximately 70% to 85% of educators reported feeling safe and part of a positive school community. Satisfaction with leadership, professional growth, and student support systems was more varied, with moderate agreement levels of roughly 55% to 70%.<\/p>\n

Workload and compensation ranked as the most significant challenges. Only 30% to 50% of respondents said workload, time demands, and class sizes were manageable. Fewer than 40% said their salary was competitive.<\/p>\n

Horne described the retention situation as urgent. \u201cIt\u2019s at a critical state. More teachers are leaving than are coming in,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Read more Unreleased Phoenix survey shows 60% opposed park homeless feeding ban<\/a><\/p>\n

The survey is designed to identify what is working within the system. \u201cWhat do teachers find in the system that\u2019s working that\u2019s causing them to stay?\u201d Horne said.<\/p>\n

Pay remains a persistent problem<\/h2>\n

Despite the focus on safety and school climate, compensation continues to drive teachers out of their districts. The survey also found that a portion of teachers described staying due to retirement proximity, financial necessity, or limited alternatives, a pattern the survey identified as conditional retention.<\/p>\n

Raquel Mamani has taught in Arizona for years and said she remains committed to public education. Still, low pay is forcing her to leave her district in Maricopa County for a position in Santa Cruz County.<\/p>\n

\u201cI can\u2019t afford to live in Maricopa County on a teacher salary,\u201d Mamani said.<\/p>\n

She said the decision was not about the work itself. \u201cI adored my job, loved my students, loved the staff, loved working for the district that I worked in. But I just could not sustain my way of life here in Maricopa County,\u201d Mamani said.<\/p>\n

Mamani said her reason for staying in the profession comes down to a belief in public education. \u201cI\u2019m continuing to be a teacher here in Arizona because I care about public education, because I care about all students in Arizona, because I believe that public education and education is the cornerstone of a successful life and a healthy democracy,\u201d she said.<\/p>\n

See a spelling or grammatical error in our story? <\/i>Please click here to report it<\/i>.<\/i><\/p>\n

Do you have a photo or video of a breaking news story? Send <\/i>it to us here<\/i> with a brief description.<\/i><\/p>\n

Read more 1 dead, 4 hospitalized after chain-reaction crash in Scottsdale<\/a><\/p>\n<\/section>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

A new state survey is taking a different approach to understanding the teacher retention problem, asking educators why they are staying rather than why they are leaving.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":1776,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-3590","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-interesting"],"yoast_head":"\nNew survey asks why Arizona teachers are staying, not why they\u2019re leaving - Tucson Moving Report<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/tucsonmovingreport.com\/?p=3590\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"New survey asks why Arizona teachers are staying, not why they\u2019re leaving - 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