With COVID-19 cases rising once again in Wisconsin, schools are scrambling to find enough substitute teachers to cover teachers who are out or sick.
Having enough options in the roster was a challenge for schools even before the pandemic. Short-term replacement gigs are flexible. They are able to choose which schools and classes they will cover, and whether or not to work when asked. But the job usually lacks the benefits of a full-time job in teaching or elsewhere.
Returning to classes during a pandemic has raised demand for alternatives, while also rethinking some long-term work.
"Our ability to fill those positions has gradually diminished - I think we have more people than ever," said Superior Superintendent Amy Starzecki's school district. "The last two weeks have been our worst weeks in two years."
Starzecki said Superior's coverage rate -- the portion of absenteeism they can cover with the option -- is at 75% this year, down from 80% in 2018-2019 and 78% last year. The school district covers those classes in a number of ways: Starzecki and other administrators and school board members have jumped into the classroom, while clerical staff cover lunch and recess periods when paraprofessionals and other staff are out. .
"Our employees don't hesitate to jump in and help each other," she said. "I think it contributes to burnout because many of our teachers lose their preparation time - that's when they need to get ready for class."
Starzecki said Superior had fewer options at the start of the year than in previous years, although they have received 30 new substitute applicants since launching a strong campaign to attract new subs.
The number of applicants for substitute teaching licenses is increasing. From July 2020 to June 2021, around 4,000 people applied for the short-term option, up from around 3,500 a year ago and 3,200 in 2018-2019. Long-term subscriptions declined in 2020-2021, with only 461 applicants compared to 540 in the previous two years, but overall, the applicant pool was larger last year – but enough for schools to meet their growing need was not.
Karen Kempinen retired from her Kenosha teaching job when Act 10 was passed in 2011, but steadily decreased until March 13, 2020 – the day schools across the state closed. She has continued training on new technology to keep her skills up to date if she returns, but said for now, the risks outweigh the benefits.
"It breaks my heart that people like me, who are qualified teachers, aren't going to sub, but most of us can't afford to get sick," she said. "I didn't feel like I'd be able to offer my academic expertise, I didn't think it was worth it for me to take the risk because I felt like I was just supervising students."
Kempinen said she has been vaccinated, raised and is in generally good health, but her age group is at greater risk for severe cases of COVID-19. With just over 50% of vaccinations in Kenosha County, she said it's not safe to spend time indoors around a lot of people.
According to the state Department of Public Instruction, as of Friday, January 21, there were approximately 10,000 people in Wisconsin with an active short-term substitute teaching license, and approximately 4,500 with an active long-term substitute license.
A long-term license requires completion of an approved teacher preparation program and is good for five years, while a short-term license requires completion of an approved officiating training program and is good for three years. good happens.
When the pandemic began, some options moved to other, more stable jobs - or jobs offering higher wages and sign-on bonuses amid low unemployment rates.
Forrest Jackson bounced around Milwaukee public schools before working as a long-term substitute at the Milwaukee School of Languages, where he covered the same class every day for a teacher who had a long absence. When schools closed for in-person learning in March 2020, he didn't enjoy the end of the school year as much as he got to see his students in person.
"I didn't really need to teach the class through Zoom or anything, all I had to do was post the assignment on Google Classroom, and that was frustrating in itself," he said. "When summer started, I was like, I'm not going again, because I don't know where this COVID stuff is going."
Jackson now works at a non-profit, where he teaches and mentors MPS students and helps organize swimming, golfing and other things to do around town.
"Already, being a sub, it's not very safe, you're expendable..." I still work with kids personally and everything - we're showing them different places, different things they haven't been able to experience."
To remain competitive, some schools have raised their rates and offered bonuses. Superior offers an additional $150 for every 20 days of replacement, as well as a recruitment bonus for Superior teachers who bring in new subs. Some schools also offer permanent substitute positions, where they will place a substitute teacher on the payroll, with access to the same benefits and pay scales as other full-time employees, and fill in gaps wherever there are. Some even have a path to becoming fully licensed teachers in the district in the long term.
Corrie Dufresne has spent the past three years working around schools in Madison, mostly taking jobs at her children's schools, and then in spring 2021 was a full-time floater option at Randall Elementary School in the Madison Metropolitan School District. Consistency in the same school, and with the same staff, made things easier.
"If you're in the same school every time, you know all the protocols," she said. "It was definitely the easiest placement, because I went in every day feeling comfortable about what I was doing, even though I was in different classes."
She continued to work this school year, once again visiting different schools as needed, but said it was starting to sound too risky—especially since her young child was not yet vaccinated.
"It started to feel a little unsafe because the classes I was going to were all COVID classes — I was there because the teacher was either out with symptoms or potential exposure," she said.
Still, she said the need has only increased. All MMSD subscriptions are put into an online system where they can see what jobs are available and pick up shifts. Previously, this was a very reliable way for schools to fill their openings.
“With Covid, a lot of principals from various MMSD schools are sending emails to subscriptions right now, I think in frustration,” she said.
MMSD called up parents earlier this month asking volunteers to substitute them. Dufresne said she would recommend the experience, and isn't opposed to going back, especially now that her daughter has been vaccinated and Dufresne has a booster shot, but she has a lot of other things on her plate at the moment. Can do subbing.
Jackson, a former Milwaukee substitute, said he thinks schools may have more luck attracting and retaining options if they can familiarize subs with schools and allow teachers to skip detailed lesson plans and offer benefits. Like put more effort into offering support.
"Members are needed, but that doesn't mean we're left in a bit of darkness," he said. "I was blind, I had to learn day after day how to manage classes better, if there wasn't a real lesson plan for the day, stuff like that - you never get bored, but it It gets kind of scary."
At the heart of Starzecki's campaign to recruit more substitutes at Superior has been a perceived lack of support. If they have never sunk before, a new hire gets to spend their first day in the shade. Each substitute is assigned a mentor from the teaching staff, to whom they can approach with questions, and the headmaster and other staff check their grade levels throughout the day.
"We know that if we create a really welcoming environment the options will backfire," she said. "We don't want our choices to be like, 'God, I wish I knew how to do this.'"