Arizona opinion: What it's like to teach in our schools
I like to say I won the parent lottery. My mom is a retired healthcare worker and my dad is a retired forty-year educator. When I finished high school, I followed in my father's footsteps and pursued teaching. I had heard about the difficulties of teaching, but I thought after graduating college with an education degree that I was ready. U of A is a great school — but nothing could've prepared me for teaching in Arizona.
A music teacher for 13 years, I frequently encountered the same problems during rehearsals. Students missing instruments, or using old instruments. Students using hand-me-down music books with torn pages. Overcrowded band rooms that were as loud at pack-up time as during practice. I went to the principal to ask if we could buy a few more instruments and I was told, earnestly, "There's absolutely no funding for that."
On my teacher's salary, I tried to close the gaps and help my aspiring musicians meet their potential. On paydays, I found myself more than once traveling around town to local pawn shops looking for instruments. I bought a trumpet, a violin, a flute, and new reeds from De-No's music. I did my best to give kids the tools they needed to succeed because I knew if I didn't, they would have to give up on music. I wasn't going to let that happen.
It was a constant financial fight. But we teachers accepted it, because we wanted to put kids first. We kept our heads down and lived to work another day.
My perspective changed a couple years ago. My dad, Keith Seaman, ran for — and won — a seat representing us in the State House. He'd come home from Phoenix and tell us about what the leading politicians were doing there to undermine public schools: writing budgets that underfunded public schools, attacking teachers, and trying to ban books.
Those conversations made me realize that the problems my school and students suffered again and again in Casa Grande came down the pipeline from the Legislature. A new report released last week ranks our state among the worst in K-12 education – and that didn't happen overnight. The state sets budgets, and now, after decades of underfunding, it's reaping what it sowed. The Legislature has undermined student success again and again.
Our kids deserve nothing but the best. This year, I decided to step up and take a stand. I'm running for state senate in our district, LD16, to put students and working-class families first. The state needs to fully fund classrooms so students have educational materials, like paper for English class and music books for band. Educators need to be paid fairly and classroom sizes need to be reasonable. Students need pathways to college or trade schools that prepare them to work in a growing Arizona economy.
To build successful schools, we need to elect lawmakers who value education. If I am elected, I will make sure to represent parents, educators, and students and advocate for the funding that is desperately needed for our rural schools.
Stacey Seaman is a public-school music teacher and candidate for Arizona State Senate in LD 16.
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