Teaching has always been a popular profession with around three million professionals in the classroom each year since 1999. But in recent years, the number of people going into teaching full-time and part-time has significantly decreased, especially the number of substitute teachers. This decrease has caused many schools across the country to increase teacher pay salaries when possible.

It seems like the majority of school districts across the country are struggling with this staffing issue. More than 75% of school principals and district leaders said they were having trouble finding substitutes to cover absences this school year. The median hourly wage for a short-term substitute teacher is $14.12, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics. Many school districts have increased substitute wages this year to try and draw in more help during the shortage. The state of Oregon created an emergency substitute teacher license, loosening the previous requirements needed to become a substitute because of “severe staffing shortages.” Oregon had 8,290 licensed substitute teachers in December 2019 and that number had fallen to 4,738 in September 2021. In just under two years, they had lost almost half of their sub pool.

Iowa Governor Kim Reynolds announced on July 17th, 2021 that the substitute teacher qualifications had been changed. She stated that anyone with an Associate’s Degree or 60 hours of credit completed at a regionally accredited institution can become a substitute teacher.

On Jan. 14, ICCSD Superintendent Matt Degner sent out an email to all teachers regarding the teacher and substitute staffing shortages. The ICCSD created a staffing plan that would compensate teachers who give up their class prep times to step in and cover another teachers’ class if that teacher is unable or unavailable to teach. These teachers would volunteer to cover another class period and get paid a compensated rate of $10 for every 15 minutes covered. This pay rate remains for all teachers regardless of the area or grade level they teach.

The ICCSD as a whole has also suffered from the sub shortage. Liberty Principal Justin Colbert shared why he thinks that there is a lack of substitute teachers.

“The substitute shortage that is occurring in ICCSD and around the country has many causes,” said Colbert. “First, public education has been really challenging over the past two or three school years, mostly as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. These challenges have caused many veteran educators to retire earlier than planned, and has also led many of these early retirees to also stay away from subbing. The uncertainty of the pandemic has also caused many substitutes to stay away because they feared getting sick. Typically, many substitutes are older and have been considered at higher risk of becoming severely ill from COVID. Problem student behaviors have also increased over the past few years. Trying to teach while also managing the increase in challenging behaviors has also driven many teachers and substitutes away from the job. Lastly, public education has been under attack in the current culture wars that have resulted from the political turmoil occurring in our country. Many educators are leaving the profession and fewer young people are entering the profession because they do not feel like they are supported or valued by the general public and/or politicians that control public school funding.”

Liberty High has three full-time building subs; their jobs are to fill in on command when teachers are out sick or unavailable. Katie Eldridge is one of Liberty’s building subs, and has worked for the district since 2019 when she and her family moved to Iowa from Arizona.

“This is my 3rd year with ICCSD and my 1st year as a building substitute. I previously taught in Arizona 20+ years ago and went into a different field of work until we moved here. It is my belief that we do not have a decrease in sub-teachers [here at Liberty], there is just more of a need due to more teachers being out with COVID or caring for family members who have been affected by COVID. I think that with vaccinations being offered and quarantine days going down we will see a decrease (more of coming back to what it was pre-epidemic) in the shortage of subs,” she said.

Iowa is not the only state experiencing these staffing shortages. The North East Independent School District in San Antonio, Texas, is temporarily increasing pay rates for substitute teachers due to a lack there-for-of. Substitutes are also eligible to receive a one-time $100 incentive if they complete 20 teaching days within one of the four 9-week periods. Additionally, subs who accept sub positions on Fridays will receive an extra $20 for that day. This temporary pay increase will remain in effect through June 30 of this year. This increase was made because the district struggled to maintain staff with COVID-19 as well as other reasons. The NEISD reported over 700 teacher and staff shortages for both Jan 3. and Jan 4 of 2022, as well on Jan 7, 945 staff members were absent, 672 of those members were teachers.

Rebecca Suchomel has been teaching for over 30 years and has never seen a shortage quite like this one.

“From everything I’ve experienced, read, and/or heard, there are a few reasons why there may be a substitute shortage. In 2020/21, many schools went online, so there was not as great a need for substitutes to come to schools. Younger subs took other jobs, older subs might have been concerned about COVID exposure,” Suchomel explained. “Substitutes may be concerned and discouraged about the current educational environment. Pay in general, is considered “low” for subs by the time taxes are taken out and many subs indicate a lack of support with ‘student behavior issues’ which creates an unpleasant experience for the sub. Oftentimes, students do not take subs seriously – they think that it’s ‘recess’ and /or a ‘free day’. Yet the sub is trying to do what is asked of [by] the teacher to keep the kids up with the learning. Discipline issues tend to rise. Sometimes, kids think that subs don’t know what they are doing. They don’t seem to give them the benefit of the doubt that they might not have a lot of teaching experience. Or, if they are a teacher, they might not be familiar with the subject matter… Cell phone usage in class is a big problem for teachers, let alone subs. There are ‘high expectations’ of subs, particularly with long-term subs’ who are not on contracts with the district. There isn’t enough time during the day to complete all of the required tasks, so a long-term sub may have to do work after school hours just to keep up. Since they are not on a contract, they are not paid for this time after work. There is also a burden placed on teaching staff to guide long-term subs and in some cases, this is exceptionally difficult for both teachers and subs, if this process isn’t smooth.”

Colbert also shared his thoughts on if the substitute teachers at Liberty were decreasing and possible ways to solve this problem nationwide.

“Fortunately at Liberty we have not experienced a decrease in substitutes to the extent the rest of the district has. Additionally, there are other places in the country that are much worse off than we are here in ICCSD. The only time we run into difficulty is when we have a large number of teachers gone, especially if they are last-minute absences our teachers have entered. Resolving the current teacher/sub shortage issue is also a challenging topic. Increasing funding for public education would allow Districts to increase teacher/sub pay, which may decrease the shortage. Additionally, public dollars need to be spent on programs that recruit young people to the teaching profession. Lastly, we as a society have to do a better job of understanding the important role that educators play within our democracy. Teachers are the profession that makes all other professions possible. Teachers deserve so much more respect than they have been shown recently,” he stated.

In the more recent school years where COVID-19 has been an issue, the demand for substitute teachers is higher than ever before due to teachers having to quarantine. Football coach and building sub, Matthew Eckhardt has been working as a part-time teacher for four years and has been at Liberty for three.

“It’s hard to tell if there’s really one reason for the shortage. I don’t think it’s different from any other field right now. Everyone is short employees but the sub shortage has been ongoing for some time, we’re just seeing more of it now. I feel like we’re a little more shielded here in the ICCSD because of the university. Student teachers and graduates are looking for work so it’s a help but that’s not to say we don’t have shortages,” he explained. “The pay isn’t terrible but it isn’t great. The building subs are a good addition because here at the district we get paid consistently and this year they’ve added health benefits for the building subs which really helps.”

Eckhardt and Suchomel also shared their suggestions for decreasing the current sub shortage.

Eckhardt said: “You can always pay the subs more and I feel like that would attract potentials. I think a struggle is that most substitutes will eventually get teaching positions so incentivizing health care helped here at ICCSD but there was also talk about if a sub has worked over a certain amount of days that they would get a bonus of some type, which would have been really nice. Also making the work environment as inclusive as possible meaning just because you’re a sub teacher doesn’t mean you can’t be a part of the culture within the building. It really helps for us that are here every day because we get to know everybody and form those relationships.”

“I think one of the first things that might help would be for districts & schools to create a new culture for subs to encourage more people to do it,” explained Suchomel. “I subbed at a school in which the administrator began each day with a zoom meeting addressing the school day, pledge, etc. but also introduced each sub and reminded students of the expectations on how to treat “guests”. When substitutes are made to feel that they are “part of the school family”, they seem more likely to want to come back. Every time there is a substitute, an administrator should let the sub know they will check in with the sub during a random period to support them. Kids would get the message that the learning process when subs are at school is as valuable as when the teacher is present. Behaviors may improve and students may tend to take the sub more seriously. Cell phones and any behavioral issues definitely need to be addressed. It sends the message to the whole student body that this type of class culture is unacceptable, especially when a sub is present. Teachers should explain to students the expected behaviors prior to having a sub and the consequences of not being respectful and responsible, in addition to the positive results that happen when they do respond appropriately to subs. Teachers are already extremely busy & it takes time out of their own prep & personal time to help long-term subs. Giving teachers who help long-term subs additional time/incentives to guide them, would help ease the stress on subs, as well as the teachers. Substitutes who do not have teaching experience would benefit from training on how to positively relate to students and how to respond to behavior issues that arise. Student leadership could come up with creative ideas to encourage the student body to appreciate & positively engage with substitute teachers. When substitutes are made to feel that they are important to the students, they seem more likely to want to come back,” she explained.

The sub shortage issue has shown no sign of ending soon, and as we hit another peak in the COVID-19 pandemic, some wonder if it will get worse. The ICCSD is not struggling as much as some other school districts, but there has still been a significant decrease of sub availability over the past few years. Because of this issue, it is important to remember that the pandemic has been difficult for everyone and we need to continue to be there and support each other despite our differences.