TUCSON, Ariz. (KGUN) — Tucson Unified School District is just about three weeks away from the start of the new school year, but still struggling to fill teacher vacancies across the district.
The teacher shortage is felt especially in middle and high school math.
One possible solution being discussed is livestreaming teachers from a third party vendor into classrooms.
“We would love to have in-person teachers, day in and day out in every period,” said Flori Huitt, TUSD’s Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum & Instruction. “Unfortunately, the pool is just not that deep for math teachers.”
“We want TUSD teachers permanent employees of the district in every single classroom,” TUSD Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo said after Tuesday’s meeting. “We don’t wanna have to be relying on a vendor. But unfortunately our situation has us, at this time, having this conversation.”
The potential partner for the virtual teachers is Elevate K-12, a company based in Chicago.
Its teachers would teach, test and interact virtually with students in the classroom. During Tuesday’s TUSD board meeting, an Elevate K-12 representative said 14 districts in Arizona are currently partnering with the company.
“They can teach from anywhere in the country,” Huitt said. “And they’re certified nationwide—some of the teachers are—and they would align to Arizona [teaching] standards.”
Huitt says it would give students more consistent and math-focused instruction.
That was lacking during the winter’s COVID Omicron surge, which caused widespread teacher shortages. TUSD teachers across different subjects sacrificed their planning periods during the day in order to fill in wherever needed, a process that continued through the spring.
Huitt says that hurt students’ education and led to teacher burnout.
“Teachers are just exhausted and burnt out. And so we don’t want a repeat of that,” she explained. “We want to make sure we continue to professionalize the teaching profession and not burn our teachers out. Give them that planning space.”
“We do not wanna be in a situation where high school and middle school classrooms have daily subs covering a different sub every single day,” Trujillo said.
But district leaders admit the livestreamed teachers plan is not ideal.
It would require them to hire more ‘classroom managers’ to sit with students in class and handle attendance, laptops and other logistics.
That makes this solution more expensive than simply hiring new, in-person teachers in the district.
Like other parents, Tucson Education Association president Margaret Chaney has reservations about online learning, even in a classroom.
“I would have to ask: What are the statistics of success with this or any other online program?” Chaney said Wednesday. “My child did not do well online. And so, even with a teacher in the room—myself being that teacher—they struggled because of that [virtual] interaction.”
TUSD is still actively hiring math teachers for this school year.
Discussion about livestreamed teachers is expected to continue at the next board meeting Tuesday, July 26.
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Ryan Fish is an anchor and reporter for KGUN 9 and comes to the Sonoran Desert from California’s Central Coast after working as a reporter, sports anchor and weather forecaster in Santa Barbara. Ryan grew up in the Chicago suburbs, frequently visiting family in Tucson. Share your story ideas and important issues with Ryan by emailing ryan.fish@kgun9.com or by connecting on Facebook and Twitter.
