It is easy to ignore the significance of substitute teachers, especially in the case of limited awareness of their role in mitigating the perennial problem of teacher absenteeism in the U.S. School system. On average, full-time teachers are likely to miss 11 days of work due to a wide range of unavoidable circumstances (Joseph et al., 2014), which according to Liu (2020) would rob learners two-thirds of a school year were it not for the laborious effort of substitute teachers. While substitute teachers offer an arguably sustainable solution to teacher shortage (Sutcher, Darling-Hammond, & Carver-Thomas, 2019) and teacher absenteeism, mitigating gaps in student learning in American schools, little has been done to improve their conditions or help them achieve job satisfaction through either better employment opportunities or competitive intrinsic and extrinsic rewarding systems to increase their motivation. Their plight arguably worsened during the COVID-19 pandemic as schools closed to adhere to government-imposed containment measures of preventing the spread of coronavirus, which had led to public health concerns. This essay seeks to highlight that substitute teachers faced stiffer economic challenges during the pandemic because while they are essential in the American school systems, negative perception of their roles and the fact that full-teachers could offer lessons remotely limited their chances of earning.
It could be argued that the foundation of the challenges facing substitute teachers in the American school system is the negativity attributed to their role, especially from the teaching staff and learners. According to the American Center for Educators (2010), substitute teachers have been perennially perceived as a representation of a discontinuous, glitch, and error in the American school system. Whenever they step in for a full-time teacher, it is considered a lost day for learners irrespective of a substitute teacher’s qualifications or competency in the subject (Kronholz, 2013).In some cases, full-time teachers do not perceive substitute teachers as colleagues despite relying on them to enjoy their extended leave holidays. In most cases, they consider them incompetent, unqualified, and deviant educators, or glorified babysitters (Echazarreta, 2011). One of the direct and immediate repercussions of these negative perceptions is arguably limited opportunities for substitute teachers, especially if the decision-makers follow advocate this line of thought. Maintaining such notions could be detrimental to the future of learners, especially in a time when the American school system is facing the highest teacher turnover of full-time teachers (Koh, 2020). Therefore, the perennial negativity of substitute teachers deprives learners of an opportunity to learn under a dedicated educator, who if given an opportunity might help students achieve their academic goals in a time whenthe American school system is s facing unprecedented uncertainties.
Research has indicated that state funding in district schools has been in decline since the 2007 recession when states cut school budgets to fund other essential services (Leachman, 2017). The scarce resources that schools receive have to be sparingly allocated and spentto meet the essential financial obligation, which might include hiring substitute teachers whenever full-time teachers are on extended leaves due to sickness or other unavoidable circumstances. Nevertheless, given the fact that some schools have gone as far as to cut mentoring programs, professional development support, support for personnel like counselors, instructional specialists, large class sizes, and reduced investmentin school equipment to maintain essential services (Darling-Hammond&Podolsky, 2019), complicates hiring substitute teachers if negativity of their role is given precedence. A negative perception of substitute teachers, especially by full-time teachers catalyzes low respect, low expectation, and low priority for substitute teachers (Echazarreta, 2011). Engraving negativity to substitute teacher’s role leads to their marginalization if both the district educational system and the society at large allow these perceptions to influence their decision-making. From a cost-analysis point of view, spending limited financial resources on substitute teachers, perceived as unqualified, unprepared, unworthy, and incapable of adding value to learners will be considered irrational. This approach marginalizes substitute teachers and increases their unemployment rate.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, most states instituted containment measures, which restricted mobility, resulting in the closure of many state economies, and hence; schools and institutions of learning (Engzell, Frey, &Verhagen, 2021). Since substitute teachers are not on payrolls, they suffered financially because teaching in a classroom represents their main source of income. Although some schools, especially those with financial resources conducted online learning, it was difficult to find opportunities because full-time teachers could offer classes from the comfort of their homes. Since substitute teachers primarily covered full-time teachers who were absent from classrooms, there was no need for schools to hire substitute teachers since learning was done remotely, mostly at the convenience of their teachers.
The COVID-19 pandemic exacerbated educational inequalities not only among schools with financial resources to offer remote learning but also between learners from poor and rich backgrounds (Garcia &Welss, 2020). Therefore, private schools and learners from financially capable backgrounds leveraged their massive financial resources to offer hybrid learning that involved learning remotely through Zoom and private tutorials. On the other hand, learners from minority and poverty-ridden backgrounds suffered learning loss as they could neither afford the technology (computers and the internet) required for neither remote learning nor pay for tuition (OECD Education, 2020).Arguably, remote learning during the pandemic worked well for learners with intentional, personalized, and abundant resources (Garcia &Welss, 2020).On the other hand, substitute teachers lost their primary, and in most cases, their only source of income. While learners from financially able backgrounds could afford private tutors, substitute teachers were not at the top of the list when families sought suitable tutors, predominantly because of the negativity surrounding their role as educators. Also, since most households were economically affected by the pandemic, many parents, especially those from poor minority backgrounds, could not afford to hire a tutor. Therefore, it is arguable that the marginalization of substitute teachers worsened their economic status and increased the gap between the full-time teachers and them, predominantly fueled by misconceptions.
While the American school system is struggling with high turnovers of full-time teachers partially because of limited salaries (Sutcher et al., 2019), substitute teachers provide a feasible, sustainable, and effective means of allowing learners to cover their curriculum and achieve their dreams. The fact that substitute teachers have previously been entrusted with almost two-thirds of a school year (Liu 2020) is testament to their significance to the American education system. District education decision- and policymakers have an important task of increasing public awareness about the importance of substitute teachers in stabilizing the shortage-stricken teaching profession. Therefore, incentivizing substitute teachers and offering them an environment where they can achieve self-actualization could mitigate a potential crisis in the American school system that might result in case of substitute teachers shortage (Smith, 2019). Substitute teachers deserve an opportunity to prove their worth instead of riding on what seems to misconceptions driven by professional rivalry. While perception is important in a professional with the responsibility of instilling American values and morals to the future generations, unsubstantiated misconceptions should not deprive young Americans two-thirds of the school year, which if well utilized could transform lives.
American Center for Educators. (2010). Dealing with negative attitudes while promoting a positive school culture. Philadelphia(PA): National Constitution Center.
Bauerlein, V. &Koh, Y. (2020, December 15). Teacher Shortage Compounds Covid-19 Crisis in Schools. The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved June 7, 2021, from https://www.wsj.com/articles/teacher-shortage-compounds-covid-crisis-in-schools- 11608050176
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Echazarreta, K. R. (2011). What is the effect of having a substitute teacher in a science or math class: Is it a productive class? Bozeman: Montana State University.
Engzell, P., Frey, A., &Verhagen, M. D. (2021).Learning loss due to school closures during the COVID-19 pandemic. PNAS, 118(17) e2022376118; https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.2022376118
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Joseph et al. (2014). Roll call: The importance of teacher attendance. National Council on Teacher Quality. https://www.nctq.org/dmsView/RollCall_TeacherAttendance
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Liu, J. (2020, October 21). Brown Center Chalkboard: America faces a substitute teacher shortage—and disadvantaged schools are hit hardest. Brookings. Retrieved June 2, 2021 from https://www.brookings.edu/blog/brown-center-chalkboard/2020/10/21/america- faces-a-substitute-teacher-shortage-and-disadvantaged-schools-are-hit-hardest
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Smith, G. G. (2019). Dealing with the substitute teacher shortage. The School Superintendents Association. Retrieved June 7, 2021, from https://www.aasa.org/SchoolAdministratorArticle.aspx?id=14662.