High school teacher Nancy Gutierrez represents her community in Tucson, Arizona, in her state’s House of Representatives. Photo credit: Nancy Gutierrez
Many accomplished classroom teachers also serve their communities in political office. One of these is Nancy Gutierrez, a high school teacher from Arizona who has been elected to her state’s House of Representatives.
Nancy earned her Bachelor’s degree in Elementary Education with an emphasis in Mathematics from Northern Arizona University in 1994. Once she earned her degree, she inaugurated her career as a teacher in Paradise Valley and Sierra Vista. She has taught at all grade levels, including preschool, elementary, high school, and community college. In 2013, she landed at Tucson High Magnet School. Nancy earned her 500-hour yoga certificate, and for the past five years she has been teaching yoga classes at the school, where she also serves as the Chair of the Physical Education Department. In addition, she is a member of the school’s Safety Committee.
Nancy is no stranger to leadership positions. In 2010, she was elected President of the Manzanita Elementary School Family Faculty Organization. In 2017, she served on the Board of the Tucson chapter of the National Organization for Women (NOW), and in 2018, she was elected president of the group. She is a member of the Tucson Education Association and the Arizona Education Association. She also has experience as a Volunteer Coordinator for the American Red Cross.
In 2022, Nancy was elected on the Democratic ticket to represent District 18 in the Arizona House of Representatives. She was sworn into office on Jan. 9, 2023. Her term will expire on Jan. 13, 2025. There she serves on the Committees for Education; Appropriations; Regulatory Affairs; Government; and Land, Agriculture & Rural Affairs.
“My passion is education,” declares Nancy. She has made it her mission to increase spending for education in her state. “Arizona is notorious for spending the least amount possible on public education,” she notes. “In turn, we spend among the least amount per pupil, have one of the lowest median teacher salary structures in the country and we have schools that are literally crumbling.” Nancy is advocating exhaustively for allocating funding to make sorely needed repairs on classrooms, improve security measures on every campus, ensure that every classroom has working air conditioning, replace out-of-date textbooks, and increase teacher salaries.
Learn more about Nancy Gutierrez click here to check out her legislative website.
