In some cases, principals will combine two classes under the supervision of one teacher, and an extra adult in the classroom can help keep lessons on track. Parents can also help alleviate the need for substitute teachers, he said. “And they are picking up trash and saying thanks for letting them do it.” “I have Google engineers, scientists, and people who work for NASA,” Austin told Education Week. By the next morning, 800 had volunteered to do everything from light janitorial work to overseeing lunch duties. He compared the effort to the way the town gathered together in the movie “It’s a Wonderful Life.” Within hours of posting the video, 50 people had signed up. 9 video, he called on parents to join a pool of volunteers who would help keep schools open, no matter what. Palo Alto Superintendent Don Austin and his administrative team conceived and launched a campaign called “One Palo Alto” within a few days earlier this month. Some districts have called on parents to join their substitute pool, or to step into other areas where staffing is strained to help keep schools open. “Really in so many ways, you are robbing Peter to pay Paul.” Calling on parents and college students to meet urgent staffing needs “No one is jumping up and down for joy that this has happened,” said Sweeney, who regularly fills in as a bus driver and works in the school kitchen. And, while teachers aides already know the students they work with, having one adult in the classroom instead of two means children go without added support at a time when many need it most. Other employees have to step into those roles when those workers are out or working in classrooms. Districts are also short on nutrition workers, front office staff, and school bus drivers, , and sometimes those shortages have sparked school closures. Some have an interest in becoming full-time teachers, and they also make more as substitutes than they do in their ordinary hourly jobs- about $98 for a 6-hour day compared to $198 for a full day of teaching, he said.īut the solution is far from perfect, Sweeney said. Sweeney, the Coquille superintendent, has used the flexibility to recruit 17 classified staff members, including current teacher’s aides, to work as substitutes. In the time since, the state has approved 460 such emergency licenses, which make up about 8 percent of the total number of active substitute licenses in the state, said Trent Danowski, deputy director of the licensing commission. In September, that state created an emergency license that allows districts to sponsor adults without bachelor’s degrees to serve as short-term substitutes. Gretchen Whitmer, a Democrat, signed a bill that will allow classified school employees, like bus drivers and school cafeteria workers, to serve as substitutes.Įducators in those states may look to places like Oregon to see if the changes will be effective. Last week, Kansas temporarily waived the requirement that substitute teachers must have at least 60 hours of college experience, clearing the way for people as young as 18 to serve in classrooms. And some have temporarily lowered or suspended those conditions to help fill the need. Requirements for substitute teachers vary widely by state and district. Reducing requirements for substitute teaching licenses Here are some of the tactics school leaders are using to deal with the substitute-teacher crunch. “We just don’t have wiggle room for even an extra two to three teachers to take personal days,” said Tim Sweeney, superintendent of the Coquille, Ore., school district. Sometimes they combine classes or step into the classrooms themselves to make it all work. School leaders around the country said they spend each morning playing musical chairs, moving a scant pool of substitute teachers, volunteer administrators, and central office staff around to make up for teacher absences. But while new approaches to the shortage have helped ease some difficult days, none of them have met the scale of the crisis, administrators told Education Week.
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