According to a study by the National Education Association, the average salary for an Arizona teacher in 2016 was $45,477, lower than all but four other states

AZ Schools Now, the coalition of education groups that asked Ducey on Monday for a four percent across-the-board pay raise for teachers, is likely out of luck.

Calling the governor’s salary hike proposal perhaps worse than nothing, the top teachers in Arizona want Gov. Doug Ducey to spend all of his new education dollars for a pay hike rather than spreading the cash around.

Arizona won praise in a recent report for its program linking preschool teachers with training and scholarships, even as the report said low wages for those teachers could make such systems an exercise in futility.

Some Arizona teachers want Proposition 123 money to be used to increase teacher pay, but the state’s two major teacher associations disagree over how the money should be spent.

As the campaign gets under way to pass Proposition 123, school leaders are busy calculating their potential take and planning how to spend it.

If the ongoing political debates about education funding have not convinced you, a new study might: Arizona is the sixth worst place in the nation to be a teacher.

Research says that the quality of teaching is the No. 1 influence on the learning of children and will either advance them or hold them back. The Education Trust, a national research and advocacy organization says, “The caliber of teachers drives student success.”