Teachers, not charters, are what really matter

My kids were born here and attended Phoenix public grade schools, middle schools and high schools, all regular city schools, not the fancy publicbut-feel-like-private suburban palaces.

But what the schools in our neighborhoods may have sometimes lacked in terms of fancy gadgets and supplies and upgraded sports uniforms and so on they made up for with the only thing that mattered:

Teachers.

Great, dedicated, teachers. During his State of the State address, Gov. Doug Ducey spoke a lot about school choice, open enrollment, charter schools and vouchers.

He also touted the Arizona Teachers Academy, which is a very good thing, and will keep some young education graduates in the state.

But Ducey made only a passing reference to Arizona’s biggest education problem, saying, “There’s still work to do to address the teacher shortage ...”

Yes. Lots. Unfortunately, the governor and the Republicans who have controlled the Legislature have spent the past several years battling with educators over salary and other issues instead of trying to fix that problem.

They don’t quite seem to understand that it’s not open enrollment that makes an education system great. It’s not charter schools. It’s not vouchers. It’s teachers.

And as of December, almost a quarter of Arizona’s teaching positions were unfilled, more than 7,500.

“We’re just not seeing a change in the shortage issue. It hasn’t gotten better,” Patti Tussey, president of the Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association, told KTAR News 92.3 FM, adding, “We’re not attracting people to the profession.”

And why would that be?

How can a state as beautiful and bountiful as Arizona not attract teachers?

Last year, USA TODAY rated Arizona the fifth-worst state to be a teacher, citing the second-lowest pay, the highest student-teacher ratio and other issues.

A number of education evaluators have put Arizona near the bottom for the way we treat teachers. Or at the bottom.

Business.org ranked Arizona the third worst state to be teacher.

WalletHub ranked Arizona the worst.

The chamber of commerce and the many outlets of our tourism industry can speak to the beauty and diversity and majesty of the place where we live. Urban. Suburban. Rural. Desert. Mountains. Forests. Natural wonders. Resorts. Great museums, restaurants, entertainment venues. Great health care facilities. Great universities.

The governor ... should have praised the ... educators who ... work here in spite of better opportunities just about everywhere else, primarily because they love this place and their students. Our kids.

And yet, not such a great place for teachers.

The governor in his speech should have praised the primary and secondary school educators who stay here and work here in spite of better opportunities just about everywhere else, primarily because they love this place and their students. Our kids.

I’ve seen it.

A number of the teachers at the high school my son attended had graduated from that same school. They chose to give back what they’d received. That’s how a state wins education. It’s not school choice. It’s not vouchers. It’s not charters.

It’s teachers.