Teaching Now

Teachers and students ready themselves in August for school. Dulce, a 22-year-old graduate of the state university, enters her new school; her new journey is starting, and she is finally a teacher. On her first day as a teacher, Dulce was reassigned to another school because student enrollment was down by 250 students 15% down from last year.

Dulce’s surplus is a current trend in Arizona. Fewer students mean less money for schools and student’s education. Some public schools in Arizona are in debt necessitating closing neighborhood schools, freezing pay, cutting programs, and revving up student recruitment. The Arizona Department of Education, however, sees the fleeing from public school an “annual savings.”

Low enrollment, however, causes these districts to make tough choices, including the closing of schools, cutting transportation, and eliminating teaching and administrative positions, according to several school districts.

Starting in 2011, legislators announced the new ESA program, created for Parents of students with Special Needs, allowing them to send their students to an appropriate school for their needs.

They voted to expand the ESA program for all parents to send their students to private education, religious education or homeschooling using taxpayer dollars in 2022.

The money used for these choices comes from property tax. These dollars normally go to public schools. This year, 2026, parents have more choices with more than 100, 000 students and 1.2 billion tax dollars, used to support it, stated on the Empowerment Scholarship Account website. According to the Goldwater Institute, the number of students is expected to rise next year.

Further 75% of the parents who take advantage of the ESA program were already paying for qualifying institutions independently. Now they get paid for their choices. The state provides parents money from the state treasury to class wallet, according to the ESA handbook.

Supporters argue that the ESA program needs to exist. Students, such as Khan Richardson, who have gone to both private and public school’s states, “Parents making these choices are doing it just for the money,” and “They have that right, as much as anyone.” A parent who is both teacher and a parent believes, “Parents should have free choice and have state tax money to send them. After all, we pay taxes too.” While Richardson and others have this opinion, many other parents are concerned that the money is not supporting the students in their local public schools.

Critics, however, provide their own reasoning for why enrollment is declining. Thomas Donahue says, “This money should not be readily available to parents who can already afford sending their schools to their options. Another teacher says “she believes the program is driving students out of public schools due to bad press. “According to Goldwater institute, only 25% of the ESA students are new to the program, approximately 25% of the public-school population are taking advantage of the program. Therefore, low enrollment is more than just the ESA program. The teacher stated. “it is bad press, that public schools get a bad name in the media and parents believe it. “A parent, agrees stating, “It is less about private schools being better, and more about what is put out on media.”

However, Khan Richardson disagrees, he states, “The behavior of students in public school is what is driving parents away. Some other parents state that teachers in public school are subject to teacher influence. “Teachers and staff try to influence students with their beliefs rather than sticking to teaching academics.” He, however, provided no evidence of this happening, rather “implying that it all over media” Richardson and these parents and teachers on Reddit support those who believe it is bad press that is affecting public school institutions.

As school enrollment continues to dimmish, new educators like Dulce have an uncertain future, one shaped by decisions not yet made. No one knows yet, how the reassignment will affect her teaching assignment or even if she will decide to find a more stable position.