Arizona Teachers Share Photos Of Outdated Books, Broken Equipment

PHOENIX, AZ – If you know a teacher, the chances are that you've heard a story of someone having to teach with outdated books in a classroom, of classrooms with broken chairs, of books being held together by duct tape. In Arizona, where teachers are among the lowest paid in the country, they are fed up and want people to know what working conditions are like.

Dozens of teachers in the state have been sharing pictures to let people know just how bad things are.

"The pictures are heartbreaking," a leader of Arizona Educators United, Noah Karvelis, tells Patch.

"No one should have to work under these conditions."

Karvelis, who is a music teacher in Tolleson, has been helping organize teachers to stage rallies and other actions to bring attention to not only their working conditions but their low pay – Arizona teachers are among the lowest paid in the country.

The state legislature determined last year that, when adjusted for inflation, the state spends over $900 less per student than it did in 2008.

Along with that, the teachers want a guarantee that the state will not cut taxes until per-student-spending reaches the national average. Currently, the state spends nearly $4,000 less per student than the national average of $11,392.

That results of the shortfall can be seen in the pictures and stories shared by the teachers.

"When our social studies book were published, this guy was President," one teacher wrote with a picture from the book showing former President George W. Bush.

Several teachers shared photos of history books that end with Bush 43 having just been elected – some don't even get to the events of September 11, 2001. Some are so old they refer to the Soviet Union still being around.

Another teacher shared pictures of mismatched desks in her classroom while another showed partition walls separating classrooms that don't fully close.

There are broken pencil sharpeners, carpets held together with duct tapes, flood damaged floors, and holes in the ceiling. There is a copying machine that's been broken for three years.

One teacher shared a photo of an 11-year-old computer.

"This computer is from 2007, it was built for WINDOWS VISTA and struggles to run Win7," he wrote. "The computer has to be plugged in all the time because the battery is no longer made.

"The only reason we have these computers is because they were given to my district as a gift because a company was upgrading to newer computers."

Most of the photos, though show books. Books with duct tape, books with missing pages, books with tears. Many with more than one problem.

One teacher shared a photo of torn literature books she's been using since she started teaching a decade ago. Another shared a picture of a book she's been using since the 90s.

And while one teacher shared a sign asking people to leave the lights on at all times because of roaches, another shared a photo of a dead mouse that had been left in a trap.

Photos via Arizona Educators United.