Back to school
We have everything you need as you race the calendar to get your children ready to return to school safely and stylishly. We explore such issues as whether your child’s backpack is too heavy and whether teachers are paid enough. We’ll also share ideas about getting homework done and finding meals for families on the go. Find stories on Pages 12A-14A today and at azcentral.com and allthemoms.com.
Angela Velazquez remembers one of her highschool teachers in particular, an English teacher whose career covered nearly 50 years.
While teenagers can be unmerciful to their experience-enhanced elders, Velazquez felt one thing most of all. Admiration. “I thought it was so awesome,” Velazquez said. “She loved teaching that much and stayed.”
Velazquez knew she wanted to be a teacher, but she started to wonder what it would be like to devote most of your life to your students, maybe one day teaching the children of former students.
Reality — and financial responsibility — put an end to that notion.
As Arizona continues to attract attention for its school funding — the state consistently ranks at or near the bottom in dollars spent on education — the issue takes a personal toll on teachers like Velazquez.
As much as she could envision a career spent teaching high school, she could never pay the cost of such devotion.
The 25-year-old Scottsdale English teacher is working toward her master’s degree and plans to earn a Ph.D, after which she’ll teach at the university level.
Arizona’s notoriously low teacher pay forces educators like Velazquez to make difficult decisions.
Arizona is among the worst in the nation in terms of paying its teachers; the state ranks 50th in elementary teacher salary. The lowest-paid teachers, likely newcomers with less experience, are making 9 percent less than the national average.
“I can’t imagine teaching high-school students for my whole career,” she said. “I couldn’t afford to.”
Velazquez was a starry-eyed and energetic teacher-to-be when she graduated from Northern Arizona University in 2013. She browsed job openings excitedly, noting starting salaries ranged from $32,000 to $35,000 a year.
“I didn’t really have a concept of how much I’d need,” Velazquez said. “I’d never lived on my own or paid monthly bills.”
Over the past four years, she has lived on and off with her parents or a roommate. In October, she’s moving back in with her parents for a few months before her wedding, which will allow her to pay for her continuing education.
It is, she said, embarrassing.
“I’d never tell my kids I’m living with my parents,” Velazquez said. “It’s not something you want to admit.”
Her paychecks also are not commensurate with her passion.
“I love coming to the classroom every day and seeing the kids,” Velazquez said. “I don’t see that feeling going away.”
Long before Amber Gould became a teacher, she saw firsthand the sacrifices the profession demands. She and her siblings grew up without the nice clothes or yearly vacations of their friends, things the family could not afford on her mom’s salary as a teacher.
Her mother warned Gould to stay away from the profession if she wanted a job with decent hours and wages.
Teaching, however, ran in her blood.
Gould, who teaches English in the Glendale Union High School District and just completed her sixth year, counts herself among the lucky ones. She said Glendale not only pays comparatively well, but her husband — also a teacher — earns extra as a coach.
“If not for that coaching money, I’m not sure we’d be able to make it,” Gould said. “I’d probably have to go into administration, which isn’t something I really want to do.”
Gould knows several teachers who work two or three jobs to make ends meet. Many, she said, have gotten out of teaching altogether.
“It’s been so discouraging at times,” Gould said. “But I can’t blame teachers. They have to do what’s best for them and their families.”
Christine Porter Marsh had few concerns about salary when she started teaching 25 years ago, since her husband made good money as a physical therapist.
She said that changed with her divorce 16 years ago. Three times, financial hardships nearly forced her out of the career she loved, and three times an unexpected windfall allowed her to stay in the classroom.
If not for the unexpected money, the 2016 Arizona Teacher of the Year said she’d probably be running a catering business, if not laying tile.
She’ll be teaching English at Cactus Shadows High School in Cave Creek this year. “I’m really great at laying tile, but much happier as a teacher.”
Concern for Arizona’s educational funding has propelled Marsh into politics. She said she has filed paperwork to run for the Arizona Senate in District 28.
And no, she’s not quitting her day job, not even to lay tile.