Arizona continues to face a major teacher shortage and now the governor is turning to the educators themselves for ideas to fix it.
A new survey is out and the state hopes teachers provide honest feedback about what matters most.
Governor Katie Hobbs is opening the survey to current and former teachers. The Arizona Education Association also supports it.
At the start of the year, there were nearly 2,900 teaching positions open.
Educators say their colleagues are leaving for opportunities in higher education or other districts, often out of state. Oftentimes pay is a major issue, saying the career just isn't covering the bills.
"I'm living a year off of a ten-month salary contract and making it stretch over the summer," said Shireen Behzadi, a high school English teacher in Tucson. "I have, probably in the last five or seven years, just seen people out and out go for something else."
With the data collected, the hope is a clearer picture of how funds can be allocated, or policies changed by Governor Hobbs, to entice more teachers to stay.
You can respond by August 31 with results expected by October.
Take the survey here.
