Substitute Teacher Pay

[TheCat]

Substitute Teaches in Duval earn $7.70 an hour, less if you have your AA degree. Even un-glorified babysitters (your 16-year-old neighbor) have a market rate upwards of $12 p/hour.

http://floridapolitics.com/archives/188401-in-duval-substitute-teacher-pay-is-old-school

The phrase "pre-9/11 mentality" is usually uttered as a foreign policy pejorative. Yet in Duval County, one thing that hasn't changed since before Sept. 11, 2001 is the pay of substitute teachers, which has withstood the test of time since March of that year.

This doesn't sit well with one group, apparently: longtime substitute teachers.

In an email this month to school board members, Mia Rogers makes the case for more moolah:

"As I consider entering my seventh year as a Substitute Teacher with Duval County, which I absolutely enjoy beyond measure, I am once again submitting my plea and that of my fellow subs who have the same sentiment.

"I implore you to seriously consider raising substitute teacher salaries in light of the fact that the negotiated contract with Duval County Schools and Kelly Educational has remained static since March of 2001, over fourteen (14) years ago, while everyone else in America has been afforded a cost of living pay increase. We are losing too many highly educated and specialized subs," Rogers writes.

"I have personally referred many subs in the past for employment with Kelly (without monetary incentive), who have unfortunately left because they could not provide adequately for their families, in consideration of the demands of this unique field and the difficulties of gaining summer employment in order to receive a paycheck. The hiring cost and subsequent attrition rate is astounding and could be potentially prevented with just a little incentive," Rogers writes.

An interesting argument.

This follows from a similar email plea rendered in August 2014 to Duval County School Superintendent Nikolai Vitti.

"I have been a substitute teacher for Kelly Educational Staffing (KES), contracted by DCPS and work primarily in my Mandarin community since the 2008-2009 school year. ... the schools expect us to provide a seamless transition into the classroom and effectuate the Lesson Plan accordingly, entrust us with their students behind locked doors, follow school policy, perform carline, bus, walker (and extended day duty or clerical functions on early release days), and maintain order and discipline during long and short-term teacher absences."

Beyond effectuating the lesson plan, other pressures were articulated last year, including  being "called into work at a moment's notice with or without a solid lesson plan and we must prepare ourselves daily to expect the unexpected in any given classroom situation."  As well, "substitutes DO NOT have a union, nor receive periodic classroom management or policy training, get automatic pay increases or bonuses, paid holidays/summer vacation, annual evaluations, or advancement."

In 2014, Rogers lamented, "The ongoing challenge by DCPS/KES to place equipped substitutes in depressed regions and specific disciplines e.g. Special Ed, Foreign Lang/Music/Art/PE and the Dual Language program."

There are those who would note that it's hard to get full-time teachers for some of these areas.

In 2014, Vitti maintained that substitutes aren't just underpaid in Duval: It's statewide.

"A recent survey of Florida school districts indicates that rates currently paid to DCPS substitutes are commensurate with rates paid throughout the state of Florida. For example, in Orange County (Orlando), the rate for a substitute with a Bachelor's Degree is $75.00 per day up to 8 hours. Kelly pays $77.00 per day (7 hours) to DCPS substitutes with a Bachelor's Degree who meet the requisite number of substitute hours. At such time as the District's contract with Kelly Services is renegotiated, rates paid to substitute teachers are reviewed with the possibility of revision based on the availability of funds," Vitti wrote.

Prediction: Rogers will be able to send another email out next year on this subject.

[TimmyB]

As a 30-year educator, and one with 7+ years in the business world, I can tell you without question, "You get what you pay for."  Every state has the exact same issue; schools have privatized every aspect of education that they can, under the guise of "wisely spending our tax dollars".  When sub jobs go unfilled day in, day out because few will work for that kind of money, it's pretty obvious that the money is not nearly "market rate", at least not as far as putting quality bodies into classrooms is concerned.  We've had subs that come in with pajama pants on.  No joke.  We've had subs who believe that their job is to be on their phone all day, looking up occasionally to make sure no one got stabbed, I guess.  Once in a while, we get a real good one.  They don't last long, as someone will hire them as a long-term sub or as an a full-time teacher.

Oh, well, this is the American educational system.  We want the Harvard experience, but we won't even pay WalMart wages.

[TheCat]

^We don't even pay the older sibling pay rate, let alone the wal-mart rate.

[TimmyB]

^We don't even pay the older sibling pay rate, let alone the wal-mart rate.

Sad, but true.

[KenFSU]

As a 30-year educator, and one with 7+ years in the business world, I can tell you without question, "You get what you pay for."  Every state has the exact same issue; schools have privatized every aspect of education that they can, under the guise of "wisely spending our tax dollars".  When sub jobs go unfilled day in, day out because few will work for that kind of money, it's pretty obvious that the money is not nearly "market rate", at least not as far as putting quality bodies into classrooms is concerned...They don't last long.

I would argue that the same holds true for full-time teachers in Duval County as well.

Too little pay, too many headaches, and too much micromanagement is leading to an astounding number of county teachers also saying, "Why bother?"

[coredumped]

Education has gone to hell since the creation of the DOE, let's start there.

[TimmyB]

What the feds do doesn't really affect me that much, other than the mandates regarding special education, food programs, etc.  MUCH more of our headache comes from our own state government (Michigan, in my case) and their constant attempt to sell off the public school to their rich friends who want to turn school into a "business" model.  Strangely, no "business" would ever accept the deficient "raw material" that we get from our suppliers, and surely would not expect to turn out gold-plated Cadillac's (or brain surgeons) from that!

Oh, well, 13 more months and I can put that all behind me and focus on another chapter of my life, and it WON'T be substitute teaching.

[coredumped]

Uh, Stephen, as you said in your own post, the DOE was created in 79, not what you portrayed in those stereotypes. And since the inception of the DOE, reading and math scores are down.

It's been proven time and time again that giving more money to the DOE does nothing to help students.

Look up "stupid in America" on YouTube, it was a dateline program (I think) that did good research in to the problem.

But, everyone should know by now, that when the government is involved, it gets worse...

[TimmyB]

Uh, Stephen, as you said in your own post, the DOE was created in 79, not what you portrayed in those stereotypes. And since the inception of the DOE, reading and math scores are down.

It's been proven time and time again that giving more money to the DOE does nothing to help students.

Look up "stupid in America" on YouTube, it was a dateline program (I think) that did good research in to the problem.

But, everyone should know by now, that when the government is involved, it gets worse...

Agreed.

Look who makes policy for the doctors.  The AMA, an organization of doctors.  For the lawyers?  The ABA.  For educators?  Paid liars called "legislators", none of whom have a background in education.  Ummmm...think we've found the biggest problem.

[finehoe]

But, everyone should know by now, that when the government is involved, it gets worse...

Since public schools are by definition government entities, this statement makes absolutely no sense.

[coredumped]

Finehoe, why doesn't it make sense?
Do you believe education has gotten worse since the 70s?

[Steve]

Look who makes policy for the doctors.  The AMA, an organization of doctors.  For the lawyers?  The ABA.  For educators?  Paid liars called "legislators", none of whom have a background in education.  Ummmm...think we've found the biggest problem.

Never thought of it from this perspective.  Interesting....

[Adam White]

And since the inception of the DOE, reading and math scores are down.

Correlation doesn't necessarily equal causation.

[finehoe]

Do you believe education has gotten worse since the 70s?

Do you believe the Dept. of Education sets teacher salaries in general and substitute teacher pay specifically?

[finehoe]

since the inception of the DOE, reading and math scores are down.

Says who?

Since the 1970s, the long-term trend National Assessment
of Educational Progress (NAEP) has collected periodic
information on the reading and mathematics achievement
of 9-, 13-, and 17-year-olds enrolled in public and private
schools. Long-term trend NAEP results may differ from
the main NAEP results presented in other National
Center for Education Statistics (NCES) publications since
the long-term trend assessment measures a consistent body
of knowledge and skills over an extended period, while
the main NAEP undergoes changes periodically to reflect
current curricula and emerging standards.

NAEP long-term trend results indicate that the average reading and mathematics
achievement of 9- and 13-year-olds improved between the early 1970s and 2012;
however, only 13-year-olds made score gains from 2008 to 2012, and they did so in
both subject areas. Average reading and mathematics achievement for 17-yearolds
did not change significantly between the early 1970s and 2012 or between
2008 and 2012.

https://nces.ed.gov/programs/coe/pdf/coe_cnj.pdf