Persistent shortage of substitutes puts districts in a bind

Qualified potential substitutes often move away for full-time positions.
AMBRIDGE, Pa. (AP) -- As his school board launched into a debate at a recent meeting about whether the district should pay four substitute teachers to replace staff members chaperoning a field trip, Ambridge Area Superintendent Kenneth Voss had another concern: whether his district could even find four qualified substitutes for the two-day span.
"I'm planning to get something up on the district Web site soon, as we need to attract more people with credentials who are interested in subbing," Voss said. "It's quite difficult to find enough."
Districts across the region -- and the state and nation -- have trouble finding qualified people to fill in when a teacher needs time off. It's not a new problem either, as many educators say they've been dealing with a shortage for more than five years.
And with all schools facing high-stakes standardized testing and stringent accountability guidelines, finding subs certified not only as teachers, but in the subject area where they are needed as well, is vital as schools can't afford to waste a class period by having someone "baby-sit" pupils through a study hall.
Freedom Area High School Principal Robert Staub said finding subs certified in secondary-level math and science has always been particularly difficult, and the school has only two or three solid "regulars" it can count on for daily openings.
Glut of full-time applicants
While substitute teachers are in short supply, the full-time market for teachers in Pennsylvania is notoriously tough. That's especially true in most of western Pennsylvania, where dwindling enrollment means fewer open positions -- plus a large number of universities churning out graduates creates a glut of candidates for permanent jobs.
Educators point to several reasons a substitute teacher shortage persists, despite a tight market for full-timers.
Butch Santicola, a spokesman for the Pennsylvania State Education Association, said sub pay isn't high enough to keep people in the positions.
Regionally, pay usually wavers between $60 and $75 a day for day-to-day subbing and up to about $100 a day for long-term work, and comes without benefits such as dental and health insurance or sick leave. New graduates who can't land a permanent job in the region are more often abandoning the idea of "subbing around" until they can find permanent work, instead relocating to places with more abundant teaching positions, such as Southern and Western states.
"What we see is that people want that full-time job, they need the benefits," Voss said.
Discipline problems
Santicola said the substitutes he talks with often report more problems with pupil discipline, but tend to be wary about reporting them because they worry that complaining too much could have a negative effect on their chances for full-time employment.
"Think about when you were in school -- students know they are subs, and some take advantage of that," Santicola said. "Subs may work all one week, then none the next. It's so fluid; they're not in bargaining units. ... Why wouldn't they leave?"
Six years ago, local districts came together to find one way to address the shortage, working with the Beaver Valley Intermediate Unit to create the Emergency Substitute Teacher Program. The program, endorsed by the state Department of Education, lets people with a bachelor's degree in any subject obtain an emergency permit to serve as a day-to-day substitute in districts in Beaver County. The Allegheny Intermediate Unit has a similar program called Smart START, begun in 2001.
Incentives
Local districts also have created their own incentives. Voss said Ambridge has a procedure to make substitutes feel more comfortable, giving them detailed lesson plans and encouraging them to approach administrators with any problems. While there isn't any set rule for how subs are considered in the hiring process, Voss said he does note experience as an Ambridge sub as a plus during his own interviews.
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