School is back in session this semester when there is yet another surge of coronavirus cases.
Teachers may have to quarantine at home if they are infected or had close contact with someone who is infected.
But unfortunately, there have not been enough substitute teachers to supervise those classes. It got to the point where non-teaching staff (ie counselors, security guards, librarians, office staff, etc) have to supervise those classes. Even worse, when there aren't enough substitute teachers for MULTIPLE classes, the students from all those classes are sent to the library or cafeteria where they're basically asked to do make-work by an overwhelmed staff member who is not normally assigned to work with those students. This is a disaster in the making.
Here's some news article mentioning this situation in Hawaii
https://www.civilbeat.org/2022/01/800-hawaii-teachers-call-out-sick-in-a-single-day/
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I am a former substitute teacher. I can tell you why there aren't enough subs. In fact, I told all the readers of the Honolulu Star-Advertiser today with this Letter to the Editor.
It’s been front-page news that there aren’t enough substitute teachers to fill in for teacher absences in Hawaii’s public schools.
As a former substitute teacher, I had a rewarding career in which I was able to work with students at various schools. It was an adventurous job. I could’ve done it forever. But the main reason I left was the lack of vacation pay.
Subs don’t get paid during summer vacation (or any school breaks). They weren’t even allowed to access unemployment insurance benefits when school wasn’t in session.
Of course, those who find a year-round position will transition there as soon as they can.
The state needs to provide vacation pay or unemployment benefits to substitute teachers when school isn’t in session. Otherwise, there will not be enough substitute teachers, and students will suffer from lack of adequate supervision.
One more thing: This is not about an entitlement for substitute teachers. It’s about retaining talent and, more important, ensuring the schools have enough staff to run day-to-day operations properly.
Pablo Wegesend
Between the time I sent the letter and the time the letter actually got published, I came across this opinion article in Honolulu Civil Beat written by teacher Eric Stinton titled "Hawaii Needs Substitute Teachers To Help With The Pandemic"
And that article had this good idea
A better solution would be to have full-time substitutes as part of the school system, with salaries comparable to teachers of similar qualifications and tenure. They can step in and teach when they’re needed, and if they aren’t needed, they can still assist by providing extra support in classrooms such as working on the side with struggling students or even helping with grading.
Yes to this!
There have been times when I've been called to sub at a school and by the time I arrive, I was told "oops, we no longer need your service". If they're going to call for me to take precious time to commute to the school, if they no longer need me to sub at that specific class, they could've at least had me tutor struggling students in the class. I mean why not? The students get much-needed help, and I can observe how the class operates so that in case I'm actually needed to sub for that class, I know the routine.
Plus, I think most classes need more than one adult in the classroom anyways. Especially if the class has 20+ students of various levels of ability. Teachers quit because they get burned out teaching 20+ students by themselves. You could actually retain more teachers if they have assistance in the class to help with discipline and tutoring.
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And going back to the issue of vacation pay, we could base it on something like .............
....... if sub A worked this many days a month on average, then sub A is eligible for this amount for vacation pay.
Something like that!
That way, substitute teachers who work more days can get more vacation pay. They're probably the ones who don't have much to fall back on, so they might need the vacation pay more.
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Some might still feel that offering perks like vacation pay is an "entitlement". No, it's an incentive to stick around.
Let's put it this way, colleges offers tons of incentives and perks to coaches to make it more likely they'll stick around. Companies like Google offer perks and incentives to retain talent.
The public school system should do the same thing.
Life is competitive
Retaining talent is competitive.
Public schools aren't just competing with private schools for talent, they're competing with other industries for talent.
If you don't offer perks like vacation pay to substitute teachers, you'll lose them to other industries, and therefore no longer be available to teach your classes when your teachers are sick.
I NEVER said "I'll never sub again" because a part of me wants to sub again. But I prefer to have something to fall back on if I ever sub again. We'll see how that goes!
