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Dayton
Daily News...
More hold on to
substitute teaching licenses
A significant increase in statewide substitute teacher license renewals
indicates that more workers are keeping temporary employment options
open while searching for permanent jobs.
Ohio Department of Education data show that one-year renewals of
substitute teacher licenses increased from 6,569 in 2008 to 8,738 in
2011, a 33 percent boost in three years. At the same time, new one-year
licenses issued dropped from 8,578 in 2008 to 6,753 in 2011, signaling
that fewer new licensed subs are joining the pool while others are
holding on to their substitute option longer.
A teaching license also qualifies for substitute teaching, so the
substitute licenses are only part of the overall part-timer group, said
Patrick Gallaway, spokesperson for the Ohio Department of Education.
Other officials said the numbers match the trend of fewer teaching
openings and job openings forcing workers into short-term solutions.
The licensing renewals suggest nonteachers have kept subbing options
open for longer, said Angela Dicke, coordinator of the Ohio Center for
Substitute Teachers.
The data are a unique indicator for Ohio’s difficulty in putting
workers into full-time jobs.
“The only requirement in Ohio (to earn a substitute license) is to have
a four-year degree in anything, a clean background check and 25 bucks,”
Dicke said. “We know what’s going on in the world today, that more
people don’t have jobs. Then they see, ‘Well, I only need 25 bucks to
get a license.’ ”
The renewal increase comes at a time when many schools are cutting
teacher ranks. According to Ohio Department of Education data, 355 of
844 public districts or charter schools saw a decrease or no change in
their number of teachers from the 2007-08 school year to 2010-11. More
than half of those reporting, 453 of 844, saw a decrease, no change or
increase of fewer than two total teachers.
“Based on when I was a superintendent, you would get two categories of
people applying (to be substitutes),” said Damon Asbury, director of
legislative services for the Ohio School Boards Association. “There
were new and beginning teachers who couldn’t find a full-time position
and others, maybe retired teachers or others who have been out of the
workforce, who wanted a way to spend some time helping. I’d say both of
those groups are probably bigger today than in recent years.”
The license numbers suggest that districts can choose from more
experienced substitutes. That could help districts because serving as a
substitute is a niche assignment, said Dicke, whose center offers
substitute training.
“Being a substitute teacher is a different beast than having your own
classroom,” she said. “Seasoned teachers obviously know what it’s like
to have their own classroom, but they’ve never really been in the
position of substitute teaching daily, of the struggle that can be.”
No wide-ranging data exists on substitute use, but state data show that
the 62 school districts in Butler, Champaign, Clark, Greene, Miami,
Montgomery and Warren counties had teacher attendance rates ranging
from 92.9 percent (New Miami Local School District in Butler County) to
97.7 percent (Jefferson Twp. Local Schools in Montgomery County) in
2010-11.
Brian Cayot, president of the Centerville Classroom Teachers
Association and a math teacher at Centerville High School, said
teachers prefer to have the best-trained substitutes available when
they miss time.
“We always want to make sure every student has a qualified, caring and
committed teacher in front of them,” Cayot said. “That’s a huge
advantage when you have a licensed teacher teaching in a classroom,
even when it’s not your particular subject matter.”
Read this and other articles at the Dayton Daily News
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