It’s not just COVID-19 that’s closing schools — it’s a lack of substitute teachers. The shortage has reached crisis levels in some districts.
“Substitutes don’t make a lot of money, about $120 a day, and then they get in a classroom where the kids are unruly, and they realize that they’re unfamiliar with the content they’re supposed to be teaching,” Burke said. “Unless they’re certified teachers, they have no background with classroom management, and they might not remember the math. And there are not a lot of people out there who have lots of experience handling 25 kindergartners.”
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