“We just don’t have that many applying,” said Miamisburg human resources official Karen Moist. “Usually I’m constantly hiring subs, but this year has been different. We’re getting by, but there definitely is a shortage.”
Ohio requires a bachelor’s degree, a clean background check and a sub certificate from the Ohio Department of Education in order to serve as a substitute teacher. Long-term substitutes must have an educational background in the subject or area they are teaching.
Tom Isaacs, superintendent of the Warren County Educational Service Center, said recent college graduates and retired school teachers are the two largest pools schools pull subs from.
Pay varies from district to district — $85 per day in Miamisburg, $87 in Kettering, $90 in Trotwood. But sub shortages are causing some districts to increase pay. Hamilton City Schools just bumped daily pay from $85 to $90 last month, and will raise it to $95 next fall. Mechanicsburg schools in Champaign County raised their rate from $90 to $105, as Superintendent Danielle Prohaska said the district has “very little cushion” in its substitute lists.
But pay is far from the only reason substitute teachers choose an assignment, according to Gerald Cox, Trotwood-Madison schools’ director of staff and student services. Cox, a former substitute teacher himself, said some subs will take less money for a shorter drive or better classroom situation.
“The subs in a region apply at all of the school districts within the radius where they’re willing to drive, so the teachers who are on my list may also be on Dayton and Jefferson Twp. and Kettering’s lists,” Cox said. “They can be more selective, and just take those assignments they’re more comfortable with, whether because of subject matter or climate in the school.”
Sheryl Chaffin, sub assignment specialist for Kettering City Schools, said her situation is similar to Trotwood’s — a shortage, but not at crisis levels. Like many districts, Kettering uses the AESOP computer system for listing sub opportunities, and Chaffin said some subs grab assignments rapidly, while others frequently turn down posts.
“Some subs are a lot more picky as far as the subject, the grade level and the building,” Chaffin said. “But there are also those who are so eager to work and chomping at the bit.”
Springfield Superintendent David Estrop said substitute teachers can afford to be more picky because there are fewer of them. He said the improving economy has allowed some people to drop part-time subbing as they land full-time jobs. As a result, Estrop and Chaffin said their districts are struggling to find all types of subs — teachers, bus drivers, secretaries and after-school aides.
Isaacs identified another factor in the sub shortage. Changes in the State Teacher Retirement System led to a surge in retirements the past two years. Some of the new hires are teachers who had been subbing, thus shrinking the sub pool.
David Romick, president of Dayton’s teachers union, said it’s a fact of life that teachers will miss some classroom days, necessitating the use of substitutes. Besides illnesses that are common when working closely with hundreds of children, local and state policy changes require frequent training that can take a teacher out of the classroom.
“With any new computer program, new testing, new anything, teachers need time to get professional development instruction and prepare to use those things efficiently,” Romick said.
He also pointed to standing committees, like Dayton Public Schools’ Race to the Top group, which meet monthly to discuss ongoing academic efforts. He said some teachers need to be in those meetings so they can participate in decisions that affect teaching strategies.
On Jan. 1, Dayton Public Schools began contracting with Parallel Employment Group to fill its teaching absences. Neither DPS administrators nor PEG responded to questions about whether the new system has been more effective. School board members said last year that the unionized Dayton Chapter of Reserve Teachers had failed to fill enough vacancies in all schools, a claim that DCRT contested. Romick said his members have reported that Dayton continues to struggle at finding enough subs.
When Kettering isn’t able to find a substitute teacher to fill an absence, Chaffin said multiple other teachers in the building usually rotate in. Each teacher takes over the affected class for the period when they have their “planning period” — a time when they might otherwise plan ahead, tutor struggling students, grade papers or answer parent emails.
Chaffin, who is also a former teacher and sub, said sometimes even the school principal will take over the class for a day, because an aide without a sub license is not legally allowed to run the class. Moist said Miamisburg averages about 25 subs in the classroom per day, and they follow the same pattern when they can’t find a sub.
“It doesn’t happen often but … it’s not that rare,” Moist said. “We scramble to call (other) subs. By that time of day though, subs usually have their day planned. Most times we end up covering these with other teachers during their plan period. Not ideal but it’s the only choice.”
Staff writers Katie Wedell and Ellen Hadley contributed to this story.
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