Pathetic, But That Is Typical of How Substitutes Are Treated

in school districts all over the country. Nevada doesn't require substitutes to have a four-year degree as in Oregon, only two years of college.

Considering substitute pools are traditionally used as hiring pools for regular teaching jobs, any increase is good, but I made about that much for a half-day gig in Oregon as the WCSD subs will be making this coming school year.

For years, the starting salary for Washoe substitutes has been $82 per day. All nearby school districts pay more, from $90 in Carson City School District to $115 in California's Tahoe Truckee Unified School District.

To become more competitive, Washoe district officials will increase substitutes' starting salary to $90 per day when classes start Aug. 10, which is still shy of the $96 average in surrounding districts.

"We're still not the highest paying, but that's OK. We're competitive," said Ellison, emphasizing that the district doesn't have to offer the highest salary because most substitutes live here in the Reno area.

Good Piece About Substitute Teaching

from about a year ago. However, many if not most school districts DO use the substitute pool as a hiring pool. What school districts tend to do is have way too many people on the sub list so that nobody can ever make enough money at it unless they can secure long-term substitute positions.

Yours truly does both classified and certified substituting and has had quite a bit of work this year. However, I have applied to work at every school district in the area. It also helps that the system is computerized.

From the piece:

Many college graduates and those with Masters Degrees as well are forced to look to subbing as a viable alternative to a full-time job in case they haven't gotten one by the time the school year starts. It is easy to quit subbing once a job has been found, but it is tough to find a long-term job in the schools you sub at. The reason for this is simple -- those who sub can either work every day at one of many districts, or they can opt to work solely in one district, possibly lessening their days worked but this might make him able to have their face out there more and possibly get a job in that district. This latter point is one of the most common myths of substitute teaching and impacts those who seek to get a full-time job teaching through this method.

Part of the problem with the 'get your face out there' method of subbing is that schools are in constant need of decent substitute teachers. There seems to be a great lack of them and for a paltry 60-95 a day (low in rural areas, average in suburban areas, high in urban schools, at least in New York State) and no benefits, schools can't seem to get subs when they need them. The lack of respect is also an issue, but money would seem to be the main issue. After a week of working in an urban district, a teacher could expect to gross around $400 on average but take home around $350 or so after taxes. Assuming work in that district, everyday, with no snow days, holidays, or vacation days, that would amount to $1400 a month, on average. One can assume $1400 * 9 = $12,600 as a yearly salary in substitute teaching, but you have to take into account the times of the year when teachers are not taking days off. This includes the beginning and end of the year, around the holidays in December, the days surrounding winter and spring Break, as well as random holidays when there is no work: Veterans Day, Columbus Day, Jewish Holidays, etc... So take away a month to two months and you have a take home pay, for a full-time substitute teacher with no benefits of $9800-$11,200.

In Oregon the substitute teacher pay is around $162 per day, statewide. However, there is such a glut of substitutes, the chances of one ever supporting himself or herself with the pay are practically nil.

Substitute Teaching

The NCTQ doesn't give a shit about the quality of teachers, let alone subs, when it is in fact in favor of LOWERING standards. Why even quote from such a discredited, debunked outfit?

You pay subs shit and don't provide benefits, you will get shit. Furthermore, there is the despicable practice by many school districts (often with union help) to bring back retirees as subs so they can hog up all the jobs and shut out fully qualified and credentialed teachers from ever subbing, and, in many cases, NEVER getting regular teaching jobs as a result. I say never get regular jobs because many if not most school districts use the substitute pool as a hiring pool for regular jobs. If teachers want to retire and can afford to, they should do it. If they are bored, they can volunteer or set up their own businesses. But in this economy, with jobs of ANY kind being scarce, hiring "double dippers" should be banned. Double dippers include subs who are retired teachers from that particular district as well as the traditional double-dipper who collects a regular salary in the same job as before while simultaneously getting a pension, like the person who replaced me when I was illegally fired by WCSD in 2008.

Mentioned in the article is Oregon, which does pay its subs far higher than most places, with the pay set by the state. It is currently at $162.50 a day (give or take a couple of dollars) for a full day. Certified and classified subs can also be eligible for PERS coverage once they hit 600 hours in a school year. However, there is a downside to the sub teacher pay, and that's that there are a whole slew of teachers signed up thinking they are going to get this "big" money but in fact they are lucky if they work more than a day or two a week unless their names are in every district in the region. They wind up getting little money for their efforts.

Today I went in for orientation at one of the places where I will be working this fall, and only five people were there for the classified subs. Meanwhile, there will be over THIRTY people for the sub teacher orientation tomorrow. As you can expect, the district as a LOT more in need for the classifieds than the certifieds, since many of the classified subs end up with permanent jobs. This leaves a lot more openings.

If things go okay, I should have quite a bit of work this year since I will be both a classified and certified sub. I need the money anyway, and I would like to get a clear credential in sped and eventually in reading. For the latter, though, I have to come up with EIGHT GRAND to pay for a credential up here. Nevada doesn't have a reading credential program. I decided against taking tests for elementary education because there are few jobs in that anyway, and these teachers are treated like dirt.