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SIERRA VISTA — Arizona is nearly last in funding education and teachers’ salaries, as well as a perceived lack of respect, leading to concerns that more educators will leave the teaching profession, according to the president of the Arizona Town Hall.
On Thursday, Tara Jackson led a meeting at Cochise College’s Sierra Vista campus that addressed the most recent town hall subject: Who will teach our children?
During the breakfast event, she described the major concerns addressed at an April town hall and some local participants of the event spoke about their views on the subject.
Sierra Vista Councilwoman Hank Huisking said residents and local governments must be involved in addressing issues facing teachers, noting a critical issue that came up in the town hall was teachers feel they have no respect from students, parents, school administrators, school boards and the general public.
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One man listening to the discussion said there have been many good role models within the teaching professions. He suggested that community leaders and others need to step up and tell about teachers who have been role models for them.
Husking said the number of people leaving the teaching profession within Sierra Vista is at about 10 percent a year, of which 4 percent is due to individuals with military ties who have to leave because their spouse is assigned elsewhere.
Low pay and lack of child care are other issues teachers have expressed as being concerns, she said.
Local businessman Mike Rutherford, who due to an emergency only attended a portion of the town hall, reflected on his personal views of the problems affecting teachers.
At the beginning of parenthood, mothers and fathers hold out high hope that their children will become nurses, doctors, scientists and other respected careers.
But Rutherford said teaching, as a profession, doesn’t seem to be high on the list of careers they want for their children.
Teachers are not respected, “and if kids don’t have respect for teachers, it’s an uphill battle,” Rutherford said.
There also must be found a way to eliminate poor educators, saying tenure is part of the protective problem that gets in the way of removing non-producing teachers, he added.
When everything is reviewed, there is a better understanding why teachers don’t feel respected, and that disenchantment is a reason they leave the profession, he said.
Jane Strain, who serves on the Cochise College governing board, called on people in local communities to stand up for teachers and “talk openly and honestly” about the importance of supporting educators.
Teachers are an important economic foundation in any community as instructors for future generations, Strain said.
Judy Gignac, a long-time local member of the Arizona Town Hall and former member of the Arizona Board of Regents, which oversees the state’s three universities, then led a discussion by the nearly three dozen who attended the meeting.
After about a 15-minute discussion, part of the consensus achieved was that all the communities in Cochise County need to work together to address the teacher issue as a joint problem to find solutions to help the educators and to make their value even better known.
Herald/Review senior reporter Bill Hess can be reached at 515-4615 or by e-mail at bill.hess@svherald.com.
WHAT IS ARIZONA TOWN HALL?
Arizona Town Hall is an independent, nonprofit membership organization that identifies critical issues facing the state. The town hall process promotes public condsideration of these issues, builds consensus and supports implementation of the resulting recommendations through its members. For information, and a video on the topic of teaching, visit aztownhall.org.
Brian wrote on Sep 7, 2008 6:48 AM: