Unless you’ve been living under a rock, you probably know Arizona teachers are struggling. Like Arizona, Utah is struggling to retain its teachers. Here in Arizona, the average starting salary for district teachers in the 2018-19 school year was $36,299, according to information provided by the Arizona Education Association. It’s possible Arizona doesn’t need to raise starting salaries to $60,000 to keep and retain high quality teachers. New Mexico recently boosted pay for new teachers to $41,000 while increasing pay for teachers with additional certifications to $50,000 and $60,000.