WASHINGTON — Schools are facing a nationwide substitute teacher shortage and many are finding new ways to encourage more educators to the classroom.
Question:
What are schools doing to recruit substitute teachers?
Sources:
One week after DCPS substitute teachers staged a rally outside the Wilson building their demands for pay raises were met.
Answers:
DCPS will now giving short term subs a raise from $15.20 to $17.00 an hour.
According to a spokesperson, DCPS is still short substitutes with 560 available down almost 300 from the 2019-2020 school year (853). To recruit more DCPS said they’re working with colleges and universities and holding job fairs.
Mayor Muriel Bowser said, "With this increase in pay, we're focused on bolstering supports for schools and creating pathways for educators to become long-term substitutes."
But let's consider D.C.'s new hourly rate in comparison to the pay at some of our neighboring school systems also working to address the substitute teacher shortage. Montgomery County Public Schools leads the pack by about $3.00 an hour.
MCPS
$21.43/hr.
FCPS
$17.79/hr.
DCPS
$17.00/hr.
A Memorandum of Understanding between MCPS and the teachers’ union, signed just last week, guarantees short term certified substitutes $21.43 an hour; Non-certified $19.71 an hour. The MOU also gives subs an extra $40.00 if they work through a planning period, an additional $60.00 on high demand days like before or after holidays.
In Fairfax County, public school substitutes received a $3.00 pay raise in November to $17.79 an hour.
According to FCPS, because of the omicron surge they're only able to fill 60% of their sub positions compared to 80% pre-pandemic.
To recruit more subs, FCPS is hiring college students and holding job fairs. In the meantime, WUSA9 is told central office and management staff are heading to the classroom to fill in the gaps.