Arizona Superintendent of Public Instruction Tom Horne says the lack of broad support by some legislators for a bill that would raise Arizona teacher salaries is “shocking and outrageous.”
Horne is calling for bipartisan support for HB2800, a bill by Republican Matt Gress to raise teacher base salaries by $10,000 over two years.
“No school can be any better than the quality of the teachers in the classroom,” said Horne. “Our surrounding states have higher salaries and we must stop losing our teachers to them. Priority one must be raising salaries, especially as the money is available right now with no tax increase required.”
Horne contends that legislators who have a problem with details of the bill, should offer productive amendments to help get it across the line. For those who regularly claim to advocate for teachers to inexplicably vote against a $10,000 raise for them is outrageous, and Arizonans should be made aware of it, he said.
