Anyone else have the substitute teaching blues?

January 23, 2009 5:16 PM

I've been substitute teaching in Portland, OR for three and a half years. This time last year, if I didn't accept a job, I would be getting called up to 20 times a night. Now I'm lucky if I get called two or three times a week. I'm wondering if there are other substitute teachers around the country experiencing a similar slow down? If so, what do you think the causes are and what are you doing to supplement your income?

I've been able to make an okay living substituting but now it's gotten to the point where I'm living off of my rapidly deteriorating savings. The calls I have been getting are from teachers that request me to sub for them, without that I would be really screwed. My guess is that a big part of the lack of jobs for subs is an increase in the number of people substituting due to high unemployment and the tanking economy. That's just a guess. Is anyone out there experiencing similar circumstances? I'm getting a bit desperate right now and wondering if I should scrap the substituting gig and try to find something else to do (I guess I know I probably should) or if this is just a down time and things will pick up again?

posted by alpinist to Work & Money (8 answers total)

You are not alone in experiencing this! South Florida is the same way. They've even stopped taking applications for subs, whereas a year ago they couldn't get enough. A big part of things here is that fewer teachers are using their sick days. There must have been a memo sent out asking teachers not to take days off to help with the budget. I'm not expecting things to pick up for a year.
posted by orangemiles at 6:58 PM on January 23, 2009

Same for SC. My wife's school has put a freeze on sub usage. Kids are now divided up between all other teachers.

SC schools are in dire peril though. Are OR schools in bad shape?
posted by schwa at 8:56 PM on January 23, 2009

My district has a set list from which to draw. If you were on it, you would get calls. They do not call randomly.
posted by JohnnyGunn at 9:06 PM on January 23, 2009

Ditto what other posted. For my district at the secondary level all the schools try to get other teachers to sub period by period. The Admin staff cover the holes.
posted by TDIpod at 9:46 PM on January 23, 2009

It's the same in Phoenix; some schools in the metro area stopped hiring subs because they had such a large pool to draw from. I signed up with a temp agency at the end of the 2006 school year, when I stopped getting calls, and worked in a call center.
posted by lemonwheel at 10:48 PM on January 24, 2009

The same here in my kid's school district in Maine - to help cut costs, they will get admin from the school to sub rather than call the sub list whenever possible.
posted by mikepop at 6:26 AM on January 26, 2009

I too have noticed a slow down in the New Jersey school districts where I substitute teach. It's not so bad for me, as I predominantly cover math and science classes and have a very good rapport with many of the teachers. As a result I typically have enough work just covering requests. But I do know this; The district I teach in is an Abbot district (read: economically disadvantaged with few options for work, and that's in the good times) which may or may not be losing that certification. As a result the district is cutting back big time, and has already let go of quite a few teachers, with threats of more to follow if certain goals are not met. So while I still get calls from this district they have all but stopped from the other two where I also work. So yeah, things could be a hell of a lot better in the magical world of American education to put it very mildly.
posted by chosemerveilleux at 8:49 AM on January 26, 2009

Response by poster: Thanks for the info everyone, sounds like it's pretty dire all over. I got a job teaching a class at a local community college so at least that's something for the Spring term. Now to find something for the summer...
posted by alpinist at 4:21 PM on January 27, 2009