It is Teacher Appreciation Week , and one Arizona lawmaker, who is a former elementary school teacher, wants to recognize the important work educators do every day.
Rep. Laura Terech, D-Phoenix, said she got involved in politics after getting frustrated with Arizona's public school system. One of the ways Terech she wants to help is by fighting for better teacher compensation.
According to the National Education Association, Arizona ranks 32nd among states for average teacher salaries.
While the state grapples with various education related challenges, Terech stressed this week is about recognizing the impact educators have in their communities, including one teacher who was special to her.
"I know that I am forever grateful to my own eighth grade English teacher, who designed a special curriculum just for me to explore the classics of literature," Terech recounted. "It set me on a path of discovery that continues to this day."
Terech pointed out educators work "tirelessly to create engaging learning environments," and help students reach their full potential.
A recent Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association survey found more than 25% of teacher vacancies in Arizona remain unfilled, while 44% of vacancies are filled by people who don't meet the state's standard certification requirements for teaching.
The National PTA held a recent virtual town hall for Teacher Appreciation Week, to discuss some of the joys and challenges educators face.
Anna King, national president of the Parent Teacher Association, said in addition to the teacher shortages across the country, divisions among parents and teachers are also very much present; a situation King said needs to improve.
"There's a T in PTA for a reason," King emphasized. "Because we know that parents and teachers working together are successful and would make that impact, and not being divided. Our country is already divided."
King added first, state leaders and lawmakers in Congress must be held accountable for adequately funding school districts and allowing teachers to make a livable wage.
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The future of a teacher training program in rural Nebraska is in danger since the Trump administration has cut diversity-related grants in its effort to shift the direction of the federal government.
The program is known as RAICES - or 'roots' in English. It's designed to recruit would-be teachers from rural Nebraska communities, train them and place them in their hometown classrooms.
Ted Hamann - an anthropologist and professor in the Department of Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln who helps oversee the program - said it connects the communities to their schools and the people teaching their kids.
"Obviously it has teaching to read, teaching mathematics, academic content," said Hamann. "But it's also, you know, the friendly face that welcomes teachers at a parent conference. All of the features about making schools part of the infrastructure of a community being healthy."
The RAICES program aims to create and retain teachers who better reflect and understand the student populations they serve. But the recent federal cuts to diversity programs have placed it in jeopardy.
Hamann said the cuts will mean a loss of funding for 16 student scholarships - about $450,000.
While Hamann said he's cautiously optimistic that RAICES organizers will be able to make up the funds from local donors, he admitted that the cuts create instability.
"We didn't think that we'd have to rally our troops in this way," said Hamann. "We thought our work at this time was to implement the grant, not to go out looking for new resources to sort of keep it going. But, you now, you take adversity - you drop a couple swear words - and then you get on task and figure out, sort of, what's the way that we're going to go forward?"
He said should it continue, the RAICES program will recruit and train rural Nebraska high school students who are considering teaching careers.
Support for this reporting was provided by Lumina Foundation.
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Idaho students still have not caught up to pre-pandemic levels in education, according to a new report.
The third annual Education Recovery Scorecard finds Idaho students are half a grade level behind 2019 marks in math, and 60% behind in reading.
One of the biggest issues in the state is chronic absenteeism.
Professor Tom Kane - lead author of the study and faculty director at the Center for Education Policy Research at Harvard University - said the pandemic was the earthquake, but absenteeism is the tsunami that keeps rolling through schools.
"Fewer than 5% of students in Idaho were chronically absent before the pandemic," said Kane, "but right after the pandemic in 2022, more than 20% of students were chronically absent - so missing more than 10% of the school year."
The scorecard says Idaho ranks 30th in math recovery and 38th in reading recovery between 2019 and 2024.
However, the report also points to bright spots - such as in Lewiston, Kuna, and Idaho Falls, where students are approaching or exceeding full recovery.
The report finds the gaps between high-income and low-income districts nationally has widened, with the richest districts nearly four times more likely to recover in math and reading when compared to the poorest districts.
Kane said the country is failing some students.
"School closures were a public health measure that was taken on behalf of all of us," said Kane. "But, at this point, the people who are paying the biggest price for those school closures are not adults. They're children, especially poor children."
Federal relief dollars expired last year. However, Kane said there still are ways states can help students.
He urged teachers to tell parents when students fall behind. Kane also noted that states have Title I funds - grants to improve academic performance especially in high-poverty schools.
"States do have some flexibility in how they administer federal Title I dollars," said Kane, "and we encourage states to use that flexibility and continue funding academic catch-up efforts like tutoring and summer learning."
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A New York bill would require schools to teach about the Jan. 6 insurrection.
The bill calls for all K-12 students to be taught about the event, with the state determining how best to incorporate the events into history classes. Since 2021, public opinion on the U.S. Capitol attack has dulled because President Donald Trump and his supporters have downplayed it since then
Asm. Charles Lavine, D-Glen Cove, the bill's sponsor, said it is important not to whitewash the facts.
"The problem with whitewashing history is that students in those states are not going to learn to be the critical thinkers that we really need in order to confront the great dilemmas that will face us in the future," Lavine contended.
Though initial polls found people equated the Capitol attack with an attack on democracy, some polls show people approve of Trump's actions. Many groups have teaching tools so educators can accurately answer students' questions about Jan. 6.
While the bill is relatively new, it has garnered positive feedback. It is under review by the Assembly's Education Committee.
The bill comes several weeks after President Donald Trump pardoned everyone prosecuted for participating in the Jan. 6 attack. Polls show most people disapprove of the pardons.
Lavine acknowledged one challenge for the bill is finding an impartial way to teach about a politically polarizing event, adding it will be left to the state's education experts.
"Those are the members of the Board of Regents, in consultation with the state's Education Department, to make the determination about what is taught particularly in subject matters," Lavine outlined. "What this bill simply does is add to a list of major subject areas that should be instructed in our public schools."
Along with the Capitol attack, the bill also calls on teachers to educate students about patriotism, citizenship, civic education, values and America's history with diversity and religious tolerance. Lavine noted one goal of the bill is to ensure children learn about good and bad parts of history, from slavery and the Holocaust to the Irish potato famine.
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