Too few substitutes to fill teaching workforce holes |
Over the 2022-23 school year in New York City, nearly one in five public schoolteachers was absent 11 days or more, an increase from the year prior, and from before the pandemic. In Michigan meanwhile, roughly 15% of teachers were absent in any given week last school year, compared with about 10% in 2019. More recently, teacher absences forced a school in Ohio to close for a day, research has found. Notably, schools serving low-income areas are the least likely to be able to find enough substitutes. “The proof in the pudding is how many people have exhausted their leave and are asking to take days off that are unpaid. That used to be a really rare occurrence. Now it is weekly,” says Jim Fry, superintendent at College Place, a small district in southern Washington State. “Exhaustion is hitting them,” agrees Ian Roberts, superintendent of schools in Des Moines, which has recorded about 300 daily teacher absences this school year, up from about 250 last year. The pool of substitutes has also changed, educators say. Some substitutes were reluctant to return after the pandemic closures, while others took different jobs and never came back. The pay for substitutes, which averages around $20 an hour, is also less competitive in a strong economy. |
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