TUSD approves raises for bus drivers and special education teaching assistants
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TUCSON (KVOA) - Tucson Unified School District Board approved raises for some of the district s employees.
These employees will be making several more dollars an hour next year. Tucson Education Association President Margaret Chaney says it is a step in the right direction. However, she said it should only be a start.
Bus drivers who take TUSD students to and from school every day will see a raise from $12.39 an hour to $16 an hour starting in July. They are transporters of learners, without them our children and our young people are not walking through the schoolhouse doors, Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo said. It s a vital position that s operationally crucial for the district. For the last several years, we have struggled.
Governorâs push for in-person learning concerns some educators
Governor s push for in-person learning concerns some educators By Jasmine Ramirez | January 12, 2021 at 6:02 PM MST - Updated January 12 at 6:03 PM
TUCSON, Ariz. (KOLD News 13) - Gov. Doug Ducey pushed for schools to return to in-person learning during his State of the State address and some local educators are voicing concern.
âWe are all learning in a very productive way and he totally missed that in his state of the state address,â said Marea Jenness, a biology teacher at Tucson High Magnet School.
Ducey said the pandemic has taken a toll on students and wants them to return to the classroom as soon as possible.
Thousands of Tucson students are failing classes while dealing with remote learning and the many challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.
In Tucson Unified, with more than 42,000 children, there is an âalarming rate of Fâsâ especially in middle and high schools, said TUSD Superintendent Gabriel Trujillo.
As the first semester of the 2020-21 school year comes to an end, the number of Fâs is up by nearly 50% over last year in TUSD secondary grades, from about 6,400 failing grades last year to nearly 9,600 now.
In the middle school grades, the number of Fâs has increased by 67% over last year, and in high school there was a 38% increase, with 4,232 Fâs in middle school compared to 2,538 last year, and 5,355 Fâs in high school compared to 3,886 last year.