CalMatters reports on the crisis that is the shortage of substitute teachers in California schools. The crisis has reached a boiling point in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Across California, the substitute teacher shortage is another burden in an already challenging school year. Administrators are taking desperate steps to make sure there’s an adult in the classroom when teachers are absent, resorting to using non-teaching staff who have their own critical responsibilities during the typical school day, especially during the first fully in-person school year of the pandemic.
Aaron Estrada, a substitute in the Chula Vista Elementary School District, said many substitutes left the profession last year because the pay wasn’t worth the risk of being surrounded by unvaccinated students and staff.
“It’s difficult to try to make a living off substitute teaching,” he said. “For a lot of people, it didn’t seem worth it.”
Some school districts, especially those in rural communities, rely heavily on retired teachers to work as substitutes. But for those older educators, the risk of returning to the classroom is even greater.
“Retirees have their own fears,” said Rhoden, the principal at Nevada Union High. “They want to keep their own health at the forefront.”
Mike Teng, CEO of Swing Education, a company that helps over 200 school districts find substitute teachers, said the sub shortage is consistent with staff shortages in the service sector.
Tennessee School Funding Formula Goes to Court
Tennessee Education Report notes that the state’s school funding formula will be in court in February of 2022.
The State of Tennessee now has a court date to face allegations of inadequate school funding. The lawsuit, originally filed by school systems in Nashville and Memphis, has been joined by Tennessee School Systems for Equity, a group representing smaller systems around the state. The suit alleges that as it currently stands, the state’s school funding formula (BEP) does not provide sufficient funding for the operation of schools.
The adequacy issue has been discussed for a number of years. Most recently, the Tennessee Advisory Commission on Intergovernmental Relations (TACIR) has suggested the state underfunds schools by $1.7 billion.