As Arizona teachers leave at twice the national rate, Marana Unified School District is investing in a master’s program to keep new educators in the classroom.
In the Marana Unified School District, two generations of teachers are heading into the classroom for the first time this fall, both earning master’s degrees through the Arizona Teacher Residency Program. Their stories come as Arizona faces a teacher retention crisis, with educators leaving at twice the national rate.
According to the Center for the Future of Arizona, 7% of U.S. teachers leave their jobs each year, but in Arizona that number is 14%. Marisol Garcia, president of the Arizona Education Association, called the situation “embarrassing.”
“We’re the chemistry lab of bad ideas here in this state,” Garcia told Arizona Luminaria. “The privatization efforts, in other words, the ESA voucher programs. We were the first, we are the worst. Hopefully we can turn those tides.”
Higher pay could help, Garcia and others say. Arizona ranks 48th in elementary and secondary teacher pay, with the average elementary teacher earning about $56,000 in 2025, compared to $62,000-$64,000 nationally. Teacher burnout rates are also the worst in the nation, with more than 44% of teachers reporting burnout, according to a Gallup survey.
Residency program offers a path
The Arizona Teacher Residency Program, highlighted in a new series by Arizona Luminaria and 13 News, aims to address these challenges by providing classroom preparation and professional development. In Marana, the program supports new teachers as they earn master’s degrees while managing their own classrooms.
The series, which begins Aug. 11, explores solutions to the teacher crisis through the voices of Tucson-area educators. It includes stories of teachers who dumpster dive for supplies, work second jobs as servers, and study at night and on weekends to earn certifications and advanced degrees.
At Desert View High School in the Sunnyside Unified School District, a chemistry teacher found a dishwasher for his classroom, signaling hope for a dual-enrollment program. In the Tucson Unified School District, a master’s program takes those already in education, such as counselors and teaching assistants, and molds them into teachers.
“Over the next 10 days, we will introduce the teacher crisis through the people you may know here in Southern Arizona,” the reporters wrote. “They may teach your students or they may take your restaurant order or tickets at the movie theater.”
The teacher retention series is a partnership between Arizona Luminaria education reporter Shannon Conner and 13 News education reporter Isabela Lisco, with collaboration from 13 newsrooms statewide through the Arizona Local News Foundation.