Arizona ranks last in class size, near last in school spending as teacher pay fails to keep up with inflation

PHOENIX — Darla Trujillo Knight has spent more than 25 years teaching children with disabilities in the Gilbert School District. She loves her job, she just can’t afford to do only that job.

“Currently, I work an additional 30 to 40 hours per week as a home health aide so that I can provide for my son and myself,” Knight said Wednesday during a national press conference on educator pay. “Otherwise, I wouldn’t be able to afford to teach.”

Knight’s situation is not unusual. A recent survey found more than 70% of educators hold second jobs, a reality that new national data suggests is driven in part by pay that has failed to keep pace with the rising cost of living.

New reports released by the National Education Association, the nation’s largest teachers union, show Arizona now ranks 49th in the nation in per-pupil spending, down from 48th the previous year, and holds the distinction of having the highest student-to-teacher ratio of any state in the country.

The reports, which are produced and released by the NEA and reflect the union’s long-standing advocacy for expanded collective bargaining rights, draw on data collected from more than 11,000 school districts and state departments of education.

The average Arizona teacher salary stands at $64,291 for the 2024-25 school year, more than $6,900 short of what researchers at the Economic Policy Institute calculate is needed for a single adult with one child to achieve a modest but adequate standard of living in the state’s most affordable metro area.

Nationally, the picture is similar. While the average teacher salary rose roughly 3.5% to $74,495 this year, that gain has not been enough to offset a decade of inflation. Adjusted for purchasing power, teachers are earning approximately 5% less today than they were 10 years ago, and about 8% less than at their peak in 2009-10.

“Over the past decade, even as salaries have risen in some places, they have failed to keep pace with inflation,” said NEA President Becky Pringle. “That means many of our educators are effectively earning less today than they were 10 years ago.”

For Knight, who also serves as a member of the Gilbert Education Association, the financial pressure is compounded by the demands of special education, a field she entered after her son was diagnosed with cerebral palsy. 

Working multiple jobs means less time for lesson planning, less time with family, and less time at school events where teachers build lasting relationships with students outside the classroom.

“It takes away extra planning time that I need for my classroom,” Knight said. “It’s exhausting, it can be stressful.”

Jesse Hargrove, a high school social studies teacher serving as president of the Maine Education Association, described a similar experience earlier in his career.

“I couldn’t cheer on my students at soccer games or applaud after musicals because they were going on while I was at another job,” Hargrove said. “Educators having to work additional jobs takes time and care away from their students and fuels burnout.”

Despite the broader challenges, Knight pointed to one recent victory. After years of advocacy through her union, her district approved a proposal to offer stipends of up to $6,000 for hard-to-fill special education positions beginning next school year.

“When I learned that our district had approved the proposal that I had worked so diligently on, I cried,” she said.

The win reflects a broader trend identified in the NEA reports: teachers in states with collective bargaining rights earn an average of 24% more than those without. Arizona is a right-to-work state, limiting the formal negotiating power of its educators, though Knight’s case shows that advocacy within those constraints can still produce results.

The release of the reports coincides with a significant development at the state level. The Arizona Senate passed a budget that holds K-12 education spending flat, with no increase over last year. Gov. Katie Hobbs has rejected that proposed budget.

If the spending levels hold, Arizona’s standing near the bottom of national education rankings is unlikely to improve.

“It all boils down to legislation,” Knight said. “I pray decision makers will recognize our hard work, stop piling on extra demands, and compensate us fairly.”

Read the full NEA report here.

This story is made possible through grant funding from the Arizona Local News Foundation’s Arizona Community Collaborative Fund.