According to a recent WalletHub study, Arizona is rated as the worst state for public school teachers.

While state officials and regents from universities and colleges in Arizona look to attract more K-12 public school teachers through incentives like free tuition for prospective education students, the profession is ranked dead last according to Jill Gonzalez, an analyst for Wallet Hub, a personal finance firm that recently ranked Arizona as the worst state for teachers.

“We looked at 21 different indicators of teacher friendliness," said Gonzalez. "That would include salary, pension, and income growth potential. Secondly we looked at academic and work environment. So, that’s more quality of life, from the school system itself to pupil-teacher ratio, workload and those types of things.”  

Gonzalez said Arizona had one of the smallest 10-year changes in teacher salary after their last raise a decade ago, and the second highest turnover rate in the nation. The survey did not take into account the recent 1.06 percent pay hike last year.