Teacher Shortage Prompts Pay Hike
By Monica Tikkanen
Based on recent surveys across the nation, school districts face shortages of teacher applicants in special areas such as speech language pathologists, secondary math and science, and special education. Superior’s situation mirrors the nation’s report.
Applicants are nonexistent or are not in sufficient supply to replace existing vacancies. Upwards of 62% of the nation’s school districts report a noticeable teacher shortage. That is nearly 2/3rds of the nation’s schools!
Reasons include lack of qualified applicants, lack of education school graduates, or lower salaries and benefits for education careers compared to other fields. Some geographic areas of the United States report higher shortages; as high as 89% in the west coast states where the cost of living is higher. Additionally, rural areas do not bring in the required numbers of teacher applicants.
Shortages of Teachers means there’s also a shortage of substitute teachers.
What can be done in Superior to attract teachers and substitute teachers? Besides advertising on outside internet sites, the District maintains it’s own website employment page and posts all available jobs. These positions are then sent to the entire district by email in hopes of spreading the work of mouth news of all vacancies.
The District has the option to accept sub applicants with a bachelor’s degree (non-teacher education program). Applicants are reviewed, and if accepted they can obtain a three (3) year substitute license through the Wisconsin Department of Education.
The non-teacher certified applicant can work as a substitute teacher, but cannot be hired by the district for a regular job. As teachers are supervised and evaluated, so are substitute teachers to assure quality performance in the classroom.
While trying to stay competitive on a regional basis and attract people into the District, the School District of Superior made the decision to raise the rate of pay for substitute teachers beginning November 2. The current $100/day rate will be increased to $125/day.
If a retired teacher from the District comes back to work as a substitute, the pay will be $130/day. Anyone interested in employment is encouraged to contact the Human Resource Office at the District Office on Tower Avenue or look on the district website at superior.k12.wi.us.
Substitute teachers go through an orientation to learn the basics about working in the District. Its the kind of job that a person can work during the day, Monday through Friday. There are no weekend hours available, and the position does not qualify for holiday pay or overtime.
Although substitute teachers can work quite often, when a day off is needed, its not a problem to plan time off. Often times, a substitute will transition into a full-time regular position with the District because of their experience and good work as a substitute.
If the time is right for a person to get back into teaching or make a career change, sub teaching may be the best way to “test the waters.” We encourage anyone interested in teaching to look into the opportunities that exist with the School District of Superior.
