State education official Robert Sampson remembers when having a substitute in the classroom was a rare event that occurred only when the regular teacher was at home sick.
So when Sampson noticed the number of substitute certificates statewide increased 7 percent last school year alone, he became alarmed.
Demands that regular teachers spend more time in training and school-improvement programs, some of them mandated by the state, have fueled the push for substitutes. And while the regular teachers are meeting and planning, substitutes are thrust into the classroom.
“It’s really an extra effort, and most teachers don’t want to be out of the classroom,” said Associate Supt. Joseph Ward of Arlington Heights Elementary District 25. “But there is pressure for more paperwork and more accountability.”
Kathy Christie, a policy analyst for the Denver-based Education Committee of the States, said more substitute teachers are stepping into classrooms around the country. In Illinois, the state issued 10,763 substitute certificates last year, up 7 percent from the 9,996 issued the year before.
“What’s behind the increase in substitutes is a real push for staff development and better-quality teachers,” Christie said. “We need to be constantly vigilant that our substitutes are not simply baby-sitters but rather are competent and using a good lesson plan left by the teacher.”
State officials want to be sure of that also.
“We’re seeing some serious voids in the classroom,” said Sampson, the State Board of Education’s division administrator for professional preparation. “I don’t see any benefits to using substitutes. We’d all be much happier having the same teacher in the classroom day in and day out.”
As long as substitutes are in demand, they are in a position to bargain. In District 25, for example, a substitute hired for a lengthy assignment can earn as much as $147 a day.
Substitutes who accept assignments one day at a time are paid $75 a day.
At Aptakisic Tripp Elementary District 102 in Buffalo Grove, officials were having trouble finding substitute teachers willing to work for just $60 a day. With other districts offering better wages and similar working conditions, officials were forced to draft instructional aides or even principals to fill in for missing teachers.
Last month, the District 102 school board decided to bring substitute pay in line with other school districts in southern Lake County, raising it to $70 a day.
In Township High School District 214, based in Arlington Heights, officials said the budget for substitute salaries has jumped to $1.1 million this year from $607,203 in 1988.
Palatine Elementary District 15has carved out a creative alternative to using substitutes when teachers attend planning meetings, said Assistant Supt. Linda Vass. Five times a year, teachers huddle for planning sessions while pupils remain in school attending an intensive fine arts workshop.
“The students are engaged in instruction while our teachers are engaged in planning,” Vass said.
On average, Vass said, a teacher requires a substitute in his or her classroom five times a year for reasons including illness and training sessions.
State law requires that a substitute hold a bachelor’s degree in any field and also complete the substitute certification process.
But although school administrators in Chicago and Downstate are being forced to rely on substitutes as a short-term solution to a teacher shortage, suburban school officials have reported no trouble finding qualified candidates for their full-time posts.
With substitutes more prevalent these days, some say, they are more frequently viewed with respect by students, and not simply as targets for practical jokes.
“My kids don’t treat me like a substitute,” said Donna Bingaman, a substitute in a 6th-grade class at Thomas Middle School in Arlington Heights. Indeed, her enthusiastic approach on a recent afternoon to teaching grammar appeared to mesmerize her adolescent crew.
“Substitutes need to be energetic,” Bingaman said, “and be prepared for everything.”
