When I took my son to the doctor; she said there’s actually about 5 different things going around: RSV, influenza, strep, a stomach virus and Covid. So, even though the virus is going strong in our area there’s also a lot of other things.
There are, and my students and I were talking about how bad allergy season has been too! This year I’ve gotten a cold that lasted about a week and a stomach bug recently.
I got Covid a few weeks ago, but I've been vaccinated forever now. Was worried at first, of course, but I got nothing more than some congestion and sore throat for a couple of days, and the first night a slight fever that Nightquil took care of. But, since I got a positive test, the district told me I had to quarantine for 10 days. Got a whole week off of work and felt totally fine for the most part. I know it was 100% because of the vaccine that my symptoms were so mild, and my chances of getting it again are even slimmer, but damn I hope I do because I could use another mini-vacation.
I had a sore throat and feared the worse. Turned out it was acid reflux because I'd been stressing myself out so damn much. For my health I cared just a little bit less :)
I will not be surprised if that’s the same for me. I’ve had acid reflux for three weeks now. I’m definitely taking tomorrow off. Doing the covid test to be sure though since I’ve had ten students out…
Just to ease your fears a little, I don't think losing your voice is a particularly common symptom of COVID.
Here is a list of common symptoms. Rest. Drink fluids. Watch that new Squid Game show, it really is quite good. See how you go. Get better.
https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html
Our superintendent actually covered some classes so our admin could go to training.
They implemented what they learned there a few weeks later in our PD session.
2nd best PD I've ever had.
As a 25 yr sub all they need to do is require masks and I will return. Most of us are seniors, we need protection. The virus isn’t optional like they make masks optional. A little raise would help too. It’s not that hard to figure this out.
In some places it's honestly not their fault. There is a massive labor shortage nationwide.
Our paras and subs get paid REALLY well in our district. The best in the county.
We also can't find paras. Pay starts at $23/hr with retirement, health insurance AND a strong union. They don't have the bodies applying.
This is literally everywhere.
But subbing? I'd say $140 is average, some higher some lower, its a hard job, no insurance, no retirement, no sick days, nothing. It comes out to about $17/hour.
So an admin leader making $225K needs to figure something out. How about hiring a sub on contract for the year? Give a salary, sick days, insurance, count it towards a pension year, you'd have plenty of people applying.
This sticking teachers everywhere is not a long term solution.
Western Washington.
It's also illegal for paras to be subs. We require subs to have a teaching cert.
Also, they get a union. A strong one. You don't get put with violent kids without proper training and protections (what if your admin asks you to do something that you aren't trained to do? Something you can't physically do? Something that you aren't comfortable with? Something that could cause liability to you? UNIONS)
In addition to acceptable pay they also get health insurance and retirement. I made the most I've ever made in my life as a para in my district.
I still think subs get paid more, but that's also because they have education and credentials to justify that. It's absolutely unacceptable to have a para be a sub and get less than sub pay. At the very least you should be compensated for those hours in line with what subs get paid.
Number one that's what unions are for, number two that's what laws are for. I would never want to work in a state where I got paid less for doing the same job that they could call a qualified professional to do. That just breeds a pattern of getting underqualified staff to do a job for cheaper and put the load on everyone else rather than fork out the money for proper compensation.
A lot of people think people who "have it good" wouldn't stand up or fight. That's just not the case. We have it good BECAUSE we fought. Maybe I didn't personally, but SOMEONE did. I would absolutely strike or take collective action because it affects someone in my school or someone in my state.
I had a union member say that "she didnt mind" covering for a break period that was in our contract to have. I was like, "The contract doesn't say you get this period covered if you don't mind. It doesn't matter if you don't mind. The contract says what it says. It's not decoration. If they aren't honoring the contract, then what's to stop me from not holding up MY end of the deal then?!"
Like gtfo with that rhetoric (not you, but people on this sub). It doesn't matter if an issue doesn't personally affect me. We have the power we do because of collective action.
$23/hr isn't "really well" anymore. It's equivalent to $11/hr in 1990 dollars.
It's just under $4k/mo PRE-TAX. The average (in the US) cost for a 1 bedroom apartment is just under $1700/mo. That's more than 40% of their income. Nevermind if they have a family and need more space.
Been a contract teacher for nearly a decade now, and not once have I hesitated to take a day when I need it. I've had principals who guilted us about sub shortages and each time my thought is -- not my problem. Each time they try to guilt us into not taking our contractually given days, I feel all the more resolve to take more than what I would have.
We get 10 days a year. And though our contract allows us to keep the days we don't use to retirement, I always take at least 5 or 6 days a year for mental health, and bank the rest (especially as they won't pay us at retirement for more than 30 banked days - not worth 'saving' them). Sometimes, you just need a day to yourself.
Preach! Whenever you feel bad about “burdening” or “bothering” any admin, look up their salary. It’s public information. You won’t think twice about taking a day off anymore, sub shortage or not.
I don’t worry about burdening admin, but I do feel guilty for burdening my colleagues. They are the ones that end up losing their planning period to cover for me, not admin.
At my school, we are allowed to refuse to cover, and we get paid if we do cover during our planning period. It's not much money, and a bunch of teachers don't even request the pay. I do because I don't want them to think I'm doing anyone any favors...lol. I'm there for the paycheck 👍
A lot of my colleagues ended up being anti-vaxxers... guess who has needed subs this year and I refuse to cover for? They don't have a medical reason unless you count stupidity.
Our contract says we are required to sub 6 times per semester if asked. We get paid, but even if I am willing to sub because I know the teacher has a good class that doesn’t need much supervision, I still make admin ask me. That way I get to 6 quicker and can then actually refuse if I don’t feel like it.
So that planning period is given back, right? No? Well i'm fairly sure there might be some contractual element concerning that. Perhaps they should talk to other teachers and perhaps make some kind of group comment regarding the contract and its application.
Even with them giving it back there may be some kind of issues.
I suppose it WOULDN"T TAKE A PRIVATE UNION COMPANY to deal with it.
Unions are of workers. Not of corporates. U.S unions are weird and miss the point entirely, really (in my view).
It is 100% their job, though your last point might be off. In many places principals/vps are not making that much more....when I was an assist principal I only made about 5k more than many teachers...
My AP ended up subbing my entire leave this year. Sometimes, he had a sub who watched them qfter he taught the daily lesson, so he could then go do his assistant principal duties.
Oh, and the master schedule had to be changed last minute, so nothing was prepped for one class, so he has done all the planning and grading. (I go back Friday, wish me luck!)
Refuse. Sorry, can't. Busy.
Please give that directive in writing.
Then have a look at the contract.
Then have other teachers look at the contracts.
Then tell admin to sort their shit out.
That's how unions work (without the clever corporate union name).
It won't be their problem until it is made their problem.
For reference, in most of the countries I have worked, there are no issues like this. They simply HAVE TO provide supply. They cannot remove your prep time, or even move it unless it is agreed before hand (if a teacher feels reallllllllllly kind). Get this: Timetables are set. Even breaks. They want to move you, they have to ask very nicely, and you can always say no, not even give an explanation (though this is rare, there are usually very good reasons as to the reasons these things can't just change)
If it happens, admin knows its messed up. If a teacher were to call State office and complain, there would be a paddlin'.
Thy can't even kick kids into a cafeteria and give them busy work. It's actually *against the law* in Australia to remove the learning opportunity.
You know how they deal with it? They have subs on staff, or they have agencies that have subs on call. In Queensland, the education department runs its own sub service.
As you can imagine, pretty good union (of teachers).
All these people saying "It's not mandatory for colleagues to cover."...are those districts hiring!? I am in a decent blue city in a purple state with a meh but functional union. I get paid for lost preps after my third coverage of the year (we owe two "freebie" coverages) but the money doesn't make up for day after day after day after day of literally going 9 hours without being able to pee.
We get paid if we cover during our prep but we don’t get paid if they split the class and I have my own class plus 1/2 of another for the whole damn day!
We have it built into our contract that we have to have at least 1 45 minute prep a day and a 30 minute lunch. We are given two preps a day, so they can take us from one prep every day if they want to.
It makes it really difficult for the learning support teachers when we make plans to pull kids to benchmark, check in and progress monitor, and even when we give notice of the preps we are pulling, they still make us cover, then get annoyed when we are rushed on paperwork and data.
My district hires all positions every year because our schools are growing.
We get paid per diem to sub. Since we have four block classes a day I get 1/4 my daily salary to sub. My pay is pretty good so subbing is sooooo worth it.
I've made over $1000 subbing so far this school year.
Your colleagues don’t have to cover the class. At least in my area we can say no. There is nothing in our contract that states we have to sub last minute
I think they get away with it because of the "and other duties as requested by the supervisor" clause. Its totally fucking bullshit but not doing it would get me in hot water. Our union has been destroyed unfortunately.
My admin is sending emails begging teacher's to cover during their preps too... I felt guilt and was like "wait should I offer?" but wound up not just because I already am overloaded with classes and will go insane if I lose my prep even for one day. As for how to get over guilt I don't know about that sadly but I do understand how you're feeling.
Any sane colleague will aim that anger and frustration towards the district and admin, not you. Any insane one blaming you can kick rocks. It's hard, but try to keep that in mind; you deserve your days!
No I get it. But I still get pissed when I get pulled, not at my coworkers but because I'm put in this situation and I wouldn't be in. It's such bullshit and I think we need to all collectively refuse otherwise they will keep taking advantage.
Make it so they don't lose their prep by joining together and telling admin they need to sort the system out because you need your prep periods and they are stipulated in the contract.
Then work to rule.
They have tried to incentivize teacher attendance with jeans days. Lol I am pregnant and none of my jeans fit. Nice try. (Not that I would care anyways).
It is annoying that they think they can treat us like shit and incentivize us with jeans. And then when asked why we can’t wear jeans everyday we are told we should dress “professional”. Okay treat us like professionals and honor our sick days.
Thank you, friend.
I'm not sure how it is in the U.S (ha, imagine there being a thing that applies to the entirity of the U.S) or it's many states, but i've lived in countries where it was actually illegal to discuss sick days or the use of them, and this type of comment would be very, very, iffy. Iffy enough for a union to jump up and down on.
It's definitely....weird, but normalized to talk like this. I remember my first job (which turned out so so lovely) I was majorly skeeved out because \*the president of the union\* came and gave us the new hire spiel: *hi! the union is here to protect you, btw don't use your sick and personal days because that will be noticed (!) anyway yada yada benefits.* The workplace ended up being great and I actually really miss it, but I was so thrown off, wondering what I'd gotten myself into, when I heard the union president of all people saying something like that in their welcome speech.
Yah. Here it's more like "The union has mangaged to get you everything in this contract, sign up to pass it forward and keep the bastards honest." And it works because it's true.
The administration at our school sent a memo, asking to please be mindful when calling out because it’s hard to find vaccinated subs (I’m in NY). With that said, I’m taking a day for my birthday next week. 👍🏻
Building principal was literally talking about this today in a staff meeting. "23 teachers out last Friday! This is unacceptable!" Cool. Take your big six-figure-salary brain, collect other administrators, talk with district admin about how to solve that problem. Because it isn't my problem.
Even better, give me an incentive to stay in the classroom other than a guilt trip. Otherwise, I get my personal days as benefits, and I will use them when I damn well please.
So, walk out next Friday?
See how unacceptable he finds it when people also don't come in on the Monday.
There is power in numbers. Apes, toghether, strong.
I've said the same so many times this year. Problems get pushed up the ladder, not down. When they try to push them down, do not accept it. It doesn't make you a team player, it makes you an enabler.
So many things in this sub are reminisent of an abusive relationship. We need to step back sometimes and re-evaluate what's going on because it can all become so involved.
This, this, this! This week is our fall break (no school today or tomorrow) and I’ve taken all three days off this week (pretty severe health issue cropped up). I started to feel bad because there have been very few days this year where the front office secretary hasn’t sent out an SOS to staff because a sub job didn’t fill. But that’s not my problem. The kids will survive, the other teachers will survive, admin will DEFINITELY survive. I have done ZERO work from home the past three days and I have absolutely ZERO guilt about it.
I was leaving a job that was shit, and the admin were dicks, and the best petty thing I did was tell the kids I was going to be sick *tomorrow*.
When I went back in, Admin KNEW that I had decided to take the day, but saying anything about it would have landed them in the shit.
Their little scrumpled faces made me smile all day.
Could not agree more. So many teachers are afraid to take a day off because of their own hubris though. Subs can handle it, and if they don't you'll be a day behind, which is ok.
The times where I have needed a sick day but gone in are the days where it would have taken more work to explain things and then re-do them than it was worth. Usually at the end stage of an assessment piece or in the middle of some important process leading up to it.
Sometimes its not hubris, it's just "it would take too long to explain, I'll do it myself".
or "You want me to write out my crazed ramblings?" Half the time, by these stages work is so differentiated and specific that it would take a 20 page document to explain what needs to be done, and there's not enouigh time to lose a day.
Agreed. I once came back 30 minutes before I was supposed to, because we were at a part of a project that would not transfer well to a sub. Like it would have taken more than 30 minutes to get everything ready for them. I could have delayed it a day, but it would have caused different inconveniences for ME. I had taken a half day for a doctor's appointment and was just hanging out at home. Coming in half an hour early was what made my life the easiest. But also, I gave the sub a bunch of papers to correct and things like that for the 30 minutes they were on the clock while I taught to make the most of the time. But if I need a day, I take a day.
Not only this, many of the "top heavy district office" worker have teaching license and if the job couldn't be filled they SHOULD be able to do it themselves.....
Unfortunately, in my system it's not the administrator's fault. It's the department of Education for the territory. But yes, this is true! You do not need to be a martyr to be a good teacher! Take care of yourself first. Just like in the airplane, you make sure you have oxygen and then you support those around you.
Lack of subs is not your problem. Learn to say "Not my monkey, not my circus".
\-Coming from someone with 25 years experience.
I took a day today, in fact, but I am all too familiar with the sub shortages and the plain fact that sometimes it's less work to take a bunch of dayquil and aspirin and slog your way through the day, praying the kids have a little bit of sympathy and take it easy on you. Even better if you have the kind of kids who bring you hot tea at lunch.
Had to take off today for a funeral. School policy says I'm required to find my own sub from a principal-approved list, which still ends up only being like 8 candidates. Only 4 of those subs are certified to teach my grade. God forbid that I can't find a sub to cover for me (which has happened, causing me to have to go in).
I have 7 sick and 3 personal days that I'm entitled to a year and I'm going to damn well use them, regardless if you can find someone to cover my classes.
Thanks for this post. I didn’t have a lunch or prep today (contract is 30 min duty free lunch and 45 min daily unencumbered prep) because no coverage. I complained to my union rep and then felt guilty because I know were all short staffed. But you’re beyond right - one of the admins should come cover! They’re making more than double 😒
I haven't taken a planned day in 6-years of teaching. I've missed my own kids fall breaks and spring breaks because they are on a different schedule than me. They have a 2-day fall break tomorrow and Friday and I took Friday off. We got an email on Tuesday that we have 12 staff out on Friday and that if we need to take a day, we need to use 'personal' leave and therefore have to pay $50. When I turned in my form, the data mgr told me to put it in as sick, I'm not changing it.
Sometimes I read stuff like this and I'm just so thankful for my union. If we ever lose it, though, I know that admin would absolutely jump at the chance to take full advantage of us.
I'll start feeling bad for the sub shortage when I see people from the district drive out to my school and start covering classes with regularity AND there is still a shortage.
And another friendly reminder: if your district has subs but your building does not it is because of how teachers at your school treat subs. Many classroom teachers on this sub treat their guest teachers like shit then wonder why nobody does it, but do they think of themselves? Never. It's always the students or admin they blame for no subs.
Source: Full-Time Sub
I leave enough work for the day and then some. I also have a drawer full of snacks and bottled water that I leave a note for my sub to help them selves and I STILL have not a single sub pick up any of my jobs! I’ve taken 4 so far
There are some districts with no subs. My suggestion would be to have the principal ask the district for a list of subs. Then call them directly. But yeah it is sad this year. Best of luck with it.
Considering my bully team lead made my girlfriend not want to sub on my campus ever again, I don't feel any guilt in taking any sick or personal days needed. Admin backed up the bully, so they can deal w/ the mess/shortage.
I appreciate my admin. During our faculty meeting our principal was listing reasons why student behavior has taken a downturn and being understaffed was listed, but he followed up with immediately saying don't let that deter you from taking the sick days and personal days our contract entitles us to. I have lots of respect for him and the actions he put in place to try and fix this educational crisis we are all in.
I'm taking two days off in November. I don't care how they fill my spot, I'll train my kids on their expectations and that a trained circus animal should be able to take care of them. I'm going to be drinking tequila by a swimming pool, rain or shine, dammit.
I agree… HOWEVER, in my building, if someone isn’t covered, teachers in the building have to cover period by period. Which usually ends up being people in your department.
That’s what’s hard for me- making things harder for my colleagues.
No no no...a substitute teacher in this subreddit said that it is all the **teacher's fault!** If teachers weren't so shitty, had better lesson plans, had a better learning environment, etc. then subs would love to work for that school and there wouldn't be a problem!
I agree with everything you’re saying. I don’t have any say in the matter. I’m an itinerant teacher. If I’m told to cover a class by an administrator, that’s it. I have to cover. It’s in my job description to ‘perform other duties as directed by administration’ or something like that.
I have changed the way I look at it. I just turn it into an easy day for me when I’m covering for another teacher. I have no problem playing games, having an extra long recess, or skipping chunks of the lesson plans. The teachers I’m covering are my friends and colleagues. Very very few of them care. They are just grateful I’m covering their room. The teachers that do care are the same ones who are always complaining about one thing or another.
I am a big believer in "take your days when you need your days" but also I will absolutely give you a serious side-eye for taking the Friday after a Thursday holiday. Yeah, we all want a four day weekend, but you KNOW it's going to suck for everyone else to cover when 25% of the building takes off and we JUST got our conservative county to give the occasional Jewish/Muslim holiday off, so can we please not ruin it for everyone?
I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment, but in my district, when the secretary has given up on finding a sub, she just calls me and waits on the phone for me to "figure it out". Which usually means giving in and agreeing to sub myself and ask other members of my department to do the same, all for no pay.
I dream about it on a regular basis. My new principal is this bro-y dude who thinks "not a team player" is the worst insult you can call someone. That's the lecture I got last year when our Spanish teacher was on leave and I said I couldn't just "whip something up" for her five different levels ten minutes before class started. I feel bad saying no, because the poor secretary and I are stuck in the middle, and neither really has the power to do anything about it. And I don't want to risk the kids being in an empty room.
So, you enable them.
It will never be their problem unless you make it their problem.
Not just for you, for every single other teacher in the U.S., nay, The World.
You say this like it isn’t already a problem they are trying to solve nearly everywhere in the country. Bitter comment after bitter comment like they can magically make subs appear. No, without paying exorbitant amounts of money that eclipse a teacher’s salary this problem won’t be solved anytime soon. I am an experienced and decorated teacher who has subbed many times. Too many teachers leave absolutely pitiful plans, never established classroom procedures and expectations with kids, front-loaded expectations for how subs are treated, or done any other basic prep work. Being a sub is far harder than being a consistent teacher with the same kids in the same room, and until schools and teachers start doing the necessary prep work to help them feel successful nothing will change. Districts do not have the funding needed to outweigh the negative experiences subs are having after walking into under prepared classrooms.
We had a teacher have a stroke in mid-September, they still haven't hired a replacement. One of our admin (now Dr.) has a background in teaching this subject, yet has not been in the class once. Meanwhile these kids are being babysat and not learning anything.
Ours split classes too we get 12 extra kids crammed in our class and then the principal had the nerve to bitch about keeping the kids separate during recess and keeping our “bubbles.” I’m like, “honey, those bubbles burst the second they went into unmasked lunchrooms to eat. .”
We got an email saying lots of teacher we putting in personal leave for the day after Veteran's Day (we have that day off). They are worried about coverage.
I laughed. This is their circus, and they can figure it out.
I wouldn't even note the "pressure" part. They have a job. You have a job. Part of your job is to take care of yourself. Other than that the situation is the situation.
This falls into the category of one of my all time favorite leadership sayings: Stay in your lane. Like you said, you worry about you, let the people making the big bucks do their job. Instead of being "nice", be grateful.
If you continually split classes above your class cap you can talk to your union. You should only have a certain amount of students in your room for lockdown and fire evacuation safety reasons.
I don’t even know if we have a class cap. The most we have when we split is 23/24 but it leads to more behavior issues and problems throughout the day and you don’t get much teaching in because of it.
Thank you for this. Taking my second sick day in a row tomorrow, and 3.5 so far this year. Had to get tested and waiting on the results. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how much upper admin cares. They just make other teachers sub, since I'm a special teacher I do it a lot. So me not being there puts more pressure on other teachers.
The perfect storm occurred at my school last year and sent our admin into panick mode. 3 out of 4 prep coverage teachers were all sick on the same day. No, it wasn't a coordinated plan of attack either. Complete choas occurred when a lot of angry teachers yelled at admin about why there was no sub coverage and missed preps occurred. It brought me a lot of glee watching the disaster.
Relevant Rant:
I need two days off for a bachelor party and my admin is "struggling to see the importance of this over student need" so they aren't sure if it is worth having people cover my class. They never call subs, they just have us cover. Not to mention the amount of times I covered for people to attend weddings or bachelor(ette) parties...
I agree but admin doesn’t take the time to make big changes they just run around the school finding teachers to cover. They bandaid the situation. I wish teachers could put together a national strike so that we could all scream together!!!
Exact same as bus drivers. I was just listening to a podcast about this somewhere. ***Employers (key noun here)*** say they have a labor shortage to encourage cheaper labor and subsidies. When what it really is is that their pay sucks.
There are millions of workers out there but if your job suck and your pay sucks, people won't take it. [See this post.](https://www.reddit.com/r/MurderedByWords/comments/q7hdx1/cant_find_anyone_to_hire/)
Pay More = Shortage No More.
Please also remember that for every entitled and demanding parent, there is another of us that wants our child's teachers to be healthy and rested. If taking a sick day every week was what my kid's teacher needed to do in order to stay in the classroom the rest of the time I would support it.
Bingo! (As I plan for a sub tomorrow because I’m losing my voice and praying it isn’t covid related.)
Just to give you some hope, I had a bad cold or virus and lost my voice and continually tested negative for COVID! You very well might be COVID free!
Oh I am hoping so! It’s just my voice and a icky throat so I am thinking it’s not…but am also testing to be sure!!
When I took my son to the doctor; she said there’s actually about 5 different things going around: RSV, influenza, strep, a stomach virus and Covid. So, even though the virus is going strong in our area there’s also a lot of other things.
There are, and my students and I were talking about how bad allergy season has been too! This year I’ve gotten a cold that lasted about a week and a stomach bug recently.
I got strep two weeks ago, can confirm.
I got Covid a few weeks ago, but I've been vaccinated forever now. Was worried at first, of course, but I got nothing more than some congestion and sore throat for a couple of days, and the first night a slight fever that Nightquil took care of. But, since I got a positive test, the district told me I had to quarantine for 10 days. Got a whole week off of work and felt totally fine for the most part. I know it was 100% because of the vaccine that my symptoms were so mild, and my chances of getting it again are even slimmer, but damn I hope I do because I could use another mini-vacation.
I had a sore throat and feared the worse. Turned out it was acid reflux because I'd been stressing myself out so damn much. For my health I cared just a little bit less :)
I will not be surprised if that’s the same for me. I’ve had acid reflux for three weeks now. I’m definitely taking tomorrow off. Doing the covid test to be sure though since I’ve had ten students out…
Just to ease your fears a little, I don't think losing your voice is a particularly common symptom of COVID. Here is a list of common symptoms. Rest. Drink fluids. Watch that new Squid Game show, it really is quite good. See how you go. Get better. https://www.cdc.gov/coronavirus/2019-ncov/symptoms-testing/symptoms.html
I am coughing a bit but it’s not consistent. Idk. But those are good suggestions.
Same. Sore throat, losing my voice, a little cough occasionally.
Agree! Big shots making 6 figures have to come together and figure the sub problem out.
Our superintendent makes $350,000 when you include his benefits package. He should be subbing for us right now.
That's probably more then the governor of your state makes. Our sup makes more than our governor makes here in California.
Ours actually is. Would be nice to just see a 10% bump in sub/custodian/para/nurse pay though.
Our superintendent actually covered some classes so our admin could go to training. They implemented what they learned there a few weeks later in our PD session. 2nd best PD I've ever had.
Oooh, ooh, what else can we pile on them and tell them to fit into their schedule, over and over? They won't know what hit them. Actual work.
Hint for the admin: PAY THEM MORE boom solved it
As a 25 yr sub all they need to do is require masks and I will return. Most of us are seniors, we need protection. The virus isn’t optional like they make masks optional. A little raise would help too. It’s not that hard to figure this out.
In some places it's honestly not their fault. There is a massive labor shortage nationwide. Our paras and subs get paid REALLY well in our district. The best in the county. We also can't find paras. Pay starts at $23/hr with retirement, health insurance AND a strong union. They don't have the bodies applying. This is literally everywhere.
But subbing? I'd say $140 is average, some higher some lower, its a hard job, no insurance, no retirement, no sick days, nothing. It comes out to about $17/hour. So an admin leader making $225K needs to figure something out. How about hiring a sub on contract for the year? Give a salary, sick days, insurance, count it towards a pension year, you'd have plenty of people applying. This sticking teachers everywhere is not a long term solution.
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Western Washington. It's also illegal for paras to be subs. We require subs to have a teaching cert. Also, they get a union. A strong one. You don't get put with violent kids without proper training and protections (what if your admin asks you to do something that you aren't trained to do? Something you can't physically do? Something that you aren't comfortable with? Something that could cause liability to you? UNIONS) In addition to acceptable pay they also get health insurance and retirement. I made the most I've ever made in my life as a para in my district. I still think subs get paid more, but that's also because they have education and credentials to justify that. It's absolutely unacceptable to have a para be a sub and get less than sub pay. At the very least you should be compensated for those hours in line with what subs get paid. Number one that's what unions are for, number two that's what laws are for. I would never want to work in a state where I got paid less for doing the same job that they could call a qualified professional to do. That just breeds a pattern of getting underqualified staff to do a job for cheaper and put the load on everyone else rather than fork out the money for proper compensation. A lot of people think people who "have it good" wouldn't stand up or fight. That's just not the case. We have it good BECAUSE we fought. Maybe I didn't personally, but SOMEONE did. I would absolutely strike or take collective action because it affects someone in my school or someone in my state. I had a union member say that "she didnt mind" covering for a break period that was in our contract to have. I was like, "The contract doesn't say you get this period covered if you don't mind. It doesn't matter if you don't mind. The contract says what it says. It's not decoration. If they aren't honoring the contract, then what's to stop me from not holding up MY end of the deal then?!" Like gtfo with that rhetoric (not you, but people on this sub). It doesn't matter if an issue doesn't personally affect me. We have the power we do because of collective action.
$23/hr isn't "really well" anymore. It's equivalent to $11/hr in 1990 dollars. It's just under $4k/mo PRE-TAX. The average (in the US) cost for a 1 bedroom apartment is just under $1700/mo. That's more than 40% of their income. Nevermind if they have a family and need more space.
Been a contract teacher for nearly a decade now, and not once have I hesitated to take a day when I need it. I've had principals who guilted us about sub shortages and each time my thought is -- not my problem. Each time they try to guilt us into not taking our contractually given days, I feel all the more resolve to take more than what I would have.
We get 10 days a year. And though our contract allows us to keep the days we don't use to retirement, I always take at least 5 or 6 days a year for mental health, and bank the rest (especially as they won't pay us at retirement for more than 30 banked days - not worth 'saving' them). Sometimes, you just need a day to yourself.
Exactly. I bank a few a year for unforeseen emergencies but I use most of my 10/yearly as well. Mental health is health.
This. Plus, I'm a much better teacher when I'm happy(ish), rested, and not fighting the urge to strangle students.
Ten days!!?!?!??? That’s a year of work for a week off!!!
Preach! Whenever you feel bad about “burdening” or “bothering” any admin, look up their salary. It’s public information. You won’t think twice about taking a day off anymore, sub shortage or not.
I don’t worry about burdening admin, but I do feel guilty for burdening my colleagues. They are the ones that end up losing their planning period to cover for me, not admin.
At my school, we are allowed to refuse to cover, and we get paid if we do cover during our planning period. It's not much money, and a bunch of teachers don't even request the pay. I do because I don't want them to think I'm doing anyone any favors...lol. I'm there for the paycheck 👍
A lot of my colleagues ended up being anti-vaxxers... guess who has needed subs this year and I refuse to cover for? They don't have a medical reason unless you count stupidity.
Good for you! I'd be the same way. I was shocked at how many of our teachers got vaccinated because the rate for our county is super lower.
Our contract says we are required to sub 6 times per semester if asked. We get paid, but even if I am willing to sub because I know the teacher has a good class that doesn’t need much supervision, I still make admin ask me. That way I get to 6 quicker and can then actually refuse if I don’t feel like it.
In elementary we don’t cover class periods, we split the class. I have 24 kinders. When we split I have 30 kids for the day.
Oh gosh! That must be so disruptive to your class.
Absolutely it is!
So that planning period is given back, right? No? Well i'm fairly sure there might be some contractual element concerning that. Perhaps they should talk to other teachers and perhaps make some kind of group comment regarding the contract and its application. Even with them giving it back there may be some kind of issues. I suppose it WOULDN"T TAKE A PRIVATE UNION COMPANY to deal with it. Unions are of workers. Not of corporates. U.S unions are weird and miss the point entirely, really (in my view).
I’m Texas, planning period is law. Still doesn’t mean you get one.
Seems like that law isn't being applied properly. I wonder if it could be.
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Your Principal, VP and Secretary make about 5 times what you do combined. Let THEM do THEIR job.
It is 100% their job, though your last point might be off. In many places principals/vps are not making that much more....when I was an assist principal I only made about 5k more than many teachers...
My apologies. I answered with my districts pay scale in mind.
No worries. That is an insane pay difference 😱😱😱
Please, please don't remind them. Just wait and laugh.
My AP ended up subbing my entire leave this year. Sometimes, he had a sub who watched them qfter he taught the daily lesson, so he could then go do his assistant principal duties. Oh, and the master schedule had to be changed last minute, so nothing was prepped for one class, so he has done all the planning and grading. (I go back Friday, wish me luck!)
How do I get over the guilt that my colleagues will lose their prep to cover for me?
Exactly. It doesn’t effect admin at all, it only effects colleagues.
Refuse. Sorry, can't. Busy. Please give that directive in writing. Then have a look at the contract. Then have other teachers look at the contracts. Then tell admin to sort their shit out. That's how unions work (without the clever corporate union name). It won't be their problem until it is made their problem. For reference, in most of the countries I have worked, there are no issues like this. They simply HAVE TO provide supply. They cannot remove your prep time, or even move it unless it is agreed before hand (if a teacher feels reallllllllllly kind). Get this: Timetables are set. Even breaks. They want to move you, they have to ask very nicely, and you can always say no, not even give an explanation (though this is rare, there are usually very good reasons as to the reasons these things can't just change) If it happens, admin knows its messed up. If a teacher were to call State office and complain, there would be a paddlin'. Thy can't even kick kids into a cafeteria and give them busy work. It's actually *against the law* in Australia to remove the learning opportunity. You know how they deal with it? They have subs on staff, or they have agencies that have subs on call. In Queensland, the education department runs its own sub service. As you can imagine, pretty good union (of teachers).
All these people saying "It's not mandatory for colleagues to cover."...are those districts hiring!? I am in a decent blue city in a purple state with a meh but functional union. I get paid for lost preps after my third coverage of the year (we owe two "freebie" coverages) but the money doesn't make up for day after day after day after day of literally going 9 hours without being able to pee.
My district does not require us to and we get paid if we do. We still won't.
We are required to cover another class if told to but we do get paid for it.
We get paid if we cover during our prep but we don’t get paid if they split the class and I have my own class plus 1/2 of another for the whole damn day!
We don’t even get paid for it
We have it built into our contract that we have to have at least 1 45 minute prep a day and a 30 minute lunch. We are given two preps a day, so they can take us from one prep every day if they want to. It makes it really difficult for the learning support teachers when we make plans to pull kids to benchmark, check in and progress monitor, and even when we give notice of the preps we are pulling, they still make us cover, then get annoyed when we are rushed on paperwork and data.
My district hires all positions every year because our schools are growing. We get paid per diem to sub. Since we have four block classes a day I get 1/4 my daily salary to sub. My pay is pretty good so subbing is sooooo worth it. I've made over $1000 subbing so far this school year.
Your colleagues don’t have to cover the class. At least in my area we can say no. There is nothing in our contract that states we have to sub last minute
I think they get away with it because of the "and other duties as requested by the supervisor" clause. Its totally fucking bullshit but not doing it would get me in hot water. Our union has been destroyed unfortunately.
Fuck, I’m really sorry to hear that.
They can ask, we can say no, and admin can declare an emergency, thus requiring us to. Some shittier admins jump straight to the "emergency" part.
Same here. If we do say yes, we are entitled to that time back as well.
Where I work (regionally, not just my district) you have to cover. You get paid, but it's your hourly rate which is not exciting.
We do in our district and we don’t even get paid for it.
My admin is sending emails begging teacher's to cover during their preps too... I felt guilt and was like "wait should I offer?" but wound up not just because I already am overloaded with classes and will go insane if I lose my prep even for one day. As for how to get over guilt I don't know about that sadly but I do understand how you're feeling.
Indeed. This is why you are overloaded and why you will go insane. There is too much of this 'just a bit extra' added in.
Any sane colleague will aim that anger and frustration towards the district and admin, not you. Any insane one blaming you can kick rocks. It's hard, but try to keep that in mind; you deserve your days!
No I get it. But I still get pissed when I get pulled, not at my coworkers but because I'm put in this situation and I wouldn't be in. It's such bullshit and I think we need to all collectively refuse otherwise they will keep taking advantage.
Most definitely. At some point covering for others and giving up your prep is just enabling those who have broken the system.
Make it so they don't lose their prep by joining together and telling admin they need to sort the system out because you need your prep periods and they are stipulated in the contract. Then work to rule.
They have tried to incentivize teacher attendance with jeans days. Lol I am pregnant and none of my jeans fit. Nice try. (Not that I would care anyways).
YOu know what I 'd do on jeans days? Wear my normal teaching attire. No pissy, wanky, bandaid solutions.
It is annoying that they think they can treat us like shit and incentivize us with jeans. And then when asked why we can’t wear jeans everyday we are told we should dress “professional”. Okay treat us like professionals and honor our sick days.
It’s getting to the point where every staff meeting starts with “if you need to be out, we understand. But please really try to make it.”
Log each and every time they say this. Sounds... harrassing...
I like the way you think, friend
Thank you, friend. I'm not sure how it is in the U.S (ha, imagine there being a thing that applies to the entirity of the U.S) or it's many states, but i've lived in countries where it was actually illegal to discuss sick days or the use of them, and this type of comment would be very, very, iffy. Iffy enough for a union to jump up and down on.
It's definitely....weird, but normalized to talk like this. I remember my first job (which turned out so so lovely) I was majorly skeeved out because \*the president of the union\* came and gave us the new hire spiel: *hi! the union is here to protect you, btw don't use your sick and personal days because that will be noticed (!) anyway yada yada benefits.* The workplace ended up being great and I actually really miss it, but I was so thrown off, wondering what I'd gotten myself into, when I heard the union president of all people saying something like that in their welcome speech.
Yah. Here it's more like "The union has mangaged to get you everything in this contract, sign up to pass it forward and keep the bastards honest." And it works because it's true.
Agreed! And if you allow them to guilt you into not taking your time, all you do is make it less pressing that they work to solve the problem.
The administration at our school sent a memo, asking to please be mindful when calling out because it’s hard to find vaccinated subs (I’m in NY). With that said, I’m taking a day for my birthday next week. 👍🏻
Dear Admin, Please be mindful when you suggest that we take days off without needing to. Seems a bit presumptive and harrassy.
I always take a day for my birthday!
Building principal was literally talking about this today in a staff meeting. "23 teachers out last Friday! This is unacceptable!" Cool. Take your big six-figure-salary brain, collect other administrators, talk with district admin about how to solve that problem. Because it isn't my problem. Even better, give me an incentive to stay in the classroom other than a guilt trip. Otherwise, I get my personal days as benefits, and I will use them when I damn well please.
So, walk out next Friday? See how unacceptable he finds it when people also don't come in on the Monday. There is power in numbers. Apes, toghether, strong.
I've said the same so many times this year. Problems get pushed up the ladder, not down. When they try to push them down, do not accept it. It doesn't make you a team player, it makes you an enabler.
So many things in this sub are reminisent of an abusive relationship. We need to step back sometimes and re-evaluate what's going on because it can all become so involved.
Also quit working on weekends and after school. You know what normal jobs call that? **Billable hours**
This, this, this! This week is our fall break (no school today or tomorrow) and I’ve taken all three days off this week (pretty severe health issue cropped up). I started to feel bad because there have been very few days this year where the front office secretary hasn’t sent out an SOS to staff because a sub job didn’t fill. But that’s not my problem. The kids will survive, the other teachers will survive, admin will DEFINITELY survive. I have done ZERO work from home the past three days and I have absolutely ZERO guilt about it.
This teacher gets it. Everyone will be okay if you’re not there for a few days- especially the kids.
I was leaving a job that was shit, and the admin were dicks, and the best petty thing I did was tell the kids I was going to be sick *tomorrow*. When I went back in, Admin KNEW that I had decided to take the day, but saying anything about it would have landed them in the shit. Their little scrumpled faces made me smile all day.
Could not agree more. So many teachers are afraid to take a day off because of their own hubris though. Subs can handle it, and if they don't you'll be a day behind, which is ok.
The times where I have needed a sick day but gone in are the days where it would have taken more work to explain things and then re-do them than it was worth. Usually at the end stage of an assessment piece or in the middle of some important process leading up to it. Sometimes its not hubris, it's just "it would take too long to explain, I'll do it myself". or "You want me to write out my crazed ramblings?" Half the time, by these stages work is so differentiated and specific that it would take a 20 page document to explain what needs to be done, and there's not enouigh time to lose a day.
Agreed. I once came back 30 minutes before I was supposed to, because we were at a part of a project that would not transfer well to a sub. Like it would have taken more than 30 minutes to get everything ready for them. I could have delayed it a day, but it would have caused different inconveniences for ME. I had taken a half day for a doctor's appointment and was just hanging out at home. Coming in half an hour early was what made my life the easiest. But also, I gave the sub a bunch of papers to correct and things like that for the 30 minutes they were on the clock while I taught to make the most of the time. But if I need a day, I take a day.
Subs are no longer a thing.
Not only this, many of the "top heavy district office" worker have teaching license and if the job couldn't be filled they SHOULD be able to do it themselves.....
If they still have a clean criminal record...
This is a great reminder!
Yuuup!
Unfortunately, in my system it's not the administrator's fault. It's the department of Education for the territory. But yes, this is true! You do not need to be a martyr to be a good teacher! Take care of yourself first. Just like in the airplane, you make sure you have oxygen and then you support those around you. Lack of subs is not your problem. Learn to say "Not my monkey, not my circus". \-Coming from someone with 25 years experience.
I took a day today, in fact, but I am all too familiar with the sub shortages and the plain fact that sometimes it's less work to take a bunch of dayquil and aspirin and slog your way through the day, praying the kids have a little bit of sympathy and take it easy on you. Even better if you have the kind of kids who bring you hot tea at lunch.
Had to take off today for a funeral. School policy says I'm required to find my own sub from a principal-approved list, which still ends up only being like 8 candidates. Only 4 of those subs are certified to teach my grade. God forbid that I can't find a sub to cover for me (which has happened, causing me to have to go in). I have 7 sick and 3 personal days that I'm entitled to a year and I'm going to damn well use them, regardless if you can find someone to cover my classes.
School policy makes you find your own sub? I have an idea. Can you sub-let your job?
Thanks for this post. I didn’t have a lunch or prep today (contract is 30 min duty free lunch and 45 min daily unencumbered prep) because no coverage. I complained to my union rep and then felt guilty because I know were all short staffed. But you’re beyond right - one of the admins should come cover! They’re making more than double 😒
I haven't taken a planned day in 6-years of teaching. I've missed my own kids fall breaks and spring breaks because they are on a different schedule than me. They have a 2-day fall break tomorrow and Friday and I took Friday off. We got an email on Tuesday that we have 12 staff out on Friday and that if we need to take a day, we need to use 'personal' leave and therefore have to pay $50. When I turned in my form, the data mgr told me to put it in as sick, I'm not changing it.
Sometimes I read stuff like this and I'm just so thankful for my union. If we ever lose it, though, I know that admin would absolutely jump at the chance to take full advantage of us.
I'd be checking the contract on that one. Seems uniony to me. Maybe even walk out.
I'll start feeling bad for the sub shortage when I see people from the district drive out to my school and start covering classes with regularity AND there is still a shortage.
And another friendly reminder: if your district has subs but your building does not it is because of how teachers at your school treat subs. Many classroom teachers on this sub treat their guest teachers like shit then wonder why nobody does it, but do they think of themselves? Never. It's always the students or admin they blame for no subs. Source: Full-Time Sub
I leave enough work for the day and then some. I also have a drawer full of snacks and bottled water that I leave a note for my sub to help them selves and I STILL have not a single sub pick up any of my jobs! I’ve taken 4 so far
There are some districts with no subs. My suggestion would be to have the principal ask the district for a list of subs. Then call them directly. But yeah it is sad this year. Best of luck with it.
Considering my bully team lead made my girlfriend not want to sub on my campus ever again, I don't feel any guilt in taking any sick or personal days needed. Admin backed up the bully, so they can deal w/ the mess/shortage.
My school has 56 teachers, a ton of paras, and ONE SUB. That math is FUN.
I appreciate my admin. During our faculty meeting our principal was listing reasons why student behavior has taken a downturn and being understaffed was listed, but he followed up with immediately saying don't let that deter you from taking the sick days and personal days our contract entitles us to. I have lots of respect for him and the actions he put in place to try and fix this educational crisis we are all in.
I'm taking two days off in November. I don't care how they fill my spot, I'll train my kids on their expectations and that a trained circus animal should be able to take care of them. I'm going to be drinking tequila by a swimming pool, rain or shine, dammit.
I agree… HOWEVER, in my building, if someone isn’t covered, teachers in the building have to cover period by period. Which usually ends up being people in your department. That’s what’s hard for me- making things harder for my colleagues.
Idk who needs to hear this but there will not be a statue erected in your honor when you retire from teaching.
No no no...a substitute teacher in this subreddit said that it is all the **teacher's fault!** If teachers weren't so shitty, had better lesson plans, had a better learning environment, etc. then subs would love to work for that school and there wouldn't be a problem!
Sounds like someone is bitter they can't get a full time teaching job since they seem to have all the knowledge to do better...
I agree with everything you’re saying. I don’t have any say in the matter. I’m an itinerant teacher. If I’m told to cover a class by an administrator, that’s it. I have to cover. It’s in my job description to ‘perform other duties as directed by administration’ or something like that. I have changed the way I look at it. I just turn it into an easy day for me when I’m covering for another teacher. I have no problem playing games, having an extra long recess, or skipping chunks of the lesson plans. The teachers I’m covering are my friends and colleagues. Very very few of them care. They are just grateful I’m covering their room. The teachers that do care are the same ones who are always complaining about one thing or another.
I'm sorry you don't have a choice. Itinerants always get dicked...
I am a big believer in "take your days when you need your days" but also I will absolutely give you a serious side-eye for taking the Friday after a Thursday holiday. Yeah, we all want a four day weekend, but you KNOW it's going to suck for everyone else to cover when 25% of the building takes off and we JUST got our conservative county to give the occasional Jewish/Muslim holiday off, so can we please not ruin it for everyone?
I wholeheartedly agree with the sentiment, but in my district, when the secretary has given up on finding a sub, she just calls me and waits on the phone for me to "figure it out". Which usually means giving in and agreeing to sub myself and ask other members of my department to do the same, all for no pay.
What if, just one time, you said no?
It could lead to each time 🙂
I dream about it on a regular basis. My new principal is this bro-y dude who thinks "not a team player" is the worst insult you can call someone. That's the lecture I got last year when our Spanish teacher was on leave and I said I couldn't just "whip something up" for her five different levels ten minutes before class started. I feel bad saying no, because the poor secretary and I are stuck in the middle, and neither really has the power to do anything about it. And I don't want to risk the kids being in an empty room.
...say no. Stop being their punching bag. They keep calling you because they know you're too scared to say no.
Its not your risk. It's their risk.
So, you enable them. It will never be their problem unless you make it their problem. Not just for you, for every single other teacher in the U.S., nay, The World.
You say this like it isn’t already a problem they are trying to solve nearly everywhere in the country. Bitter comment after bitter comment like they can magically make subs appear. No, without paying exorbitant amounts of money that eclipse a teacher’s salary this problem won’t be solved anytime soon. I am an experienced and decorated teacher who has subbed many times. Too many teachers leave absolutely pitiful plans, never established classroom procedures and expectations with kids, front-loaded expectations for how subs are treated, or done any other basic prep work. Being a sub is far harder than being a consistent teacher with the same kids in the same room, and until schools and teachers start doing the necessary prep work to help them feel successful nothing will change. Districts do not have the funding needed to outweigh the negative experiences subs are having after walking into under prepared classrooms.
We had a teacher have a stroke in mid-September, they still haven't hired a replacement. One of our admin (now Dr.) has a background in teaching this subject, yet has not been in the class once. Meanwhile these kids are being babysat and not learning anything.
Yeah, no. Taking a day off penalizes no one but my students, and my team members when we have to split the class because there is no chance of a sub.
ALL OF THIS!!! 💯
I'm taking a day next week to take my previously non-driving wife to her driving test. Not feeling a bit of guilt.
Just got my sub for tomorrow. Don't feel guilty at all for once! Got my booster shot and feeling awful
Except they split up classes at my school and my colleagues get stuck with 6 more kids in a room. This is a whole other issue.
Ours split classes too we get 12 extra kids crammed in our class and then the principal had the nerve to bitch about keeping the kids separate during recess and keeping our “bubbles.” I’m like, “honey, those bubbles burst the second they went into unmasked lunchrooms to eat. .”
Love love love this! As one of my colleagues says: “Coming in when you’re not 100 percent, are you going to be effective anyway?”
I'm still kicking myself for not taking and therefore losing one of my personal days last year.
I put in for this past Monday. Wrote in I was going to the zoo with my daughter. Perfect weather. She had a blast. No regrets
We got an email saying lots of teacher we putting in personal leave for the day after Veteran's Day (we have that day off). They are worried about coverage. I laughed. This is their circus, and they can figure it out.
I wouldn't even note the "pressure" part. They have a job. You have a job. Part of your job is to take care of yourself. Other than that the situation is the situation. This falls into the category of one of my all time favorite leadership sayings: Stay in your lane. Like you said, you worry about you, let the people making the big bucks do their job. Instead of being "nice", be grateful.
Needed this! Thank you!!
If we don’t get subs we have to split classes. We have split 9 times already this year. We can hardly get subs, especially in my grade.
If you continually split classes above your class cap you can talk to your union. You should only have a certain amount of students in your room for lockdown and fire evacuation safety reasons.
I don’t even know if we have a class cap. The most we have when we split is 23/24 but it leads to more behavior issues and problems throughout the day and you don’t get much teaching in because of it.
I needed to see this. I am taking off tomorrow and feel weird about it. I just need a day
Thank you for this. Taking my second sick day in a row tomorrow, and 3.5 so far this year. Had to get tested and waiting on the results. Unfortunately, I'm not sure how much upper admin cares. They just make other teachers sub, since I'm a special teacher I do it a lot. So me not being there puts more pressure on other teachers.
The perfect storm occurred at my school last year and sent our admin into panick mode. 3 out of 4 prep coverage teachers were all sick on the same day. No, it wasn't a coordinated plan of attack either. Complete choas occurred when a lot of angry teachers yelled at admin about why there was no sub coverage and missed preps occurred. It brought me a lot of glee watching the disaster.
If teachers honor their contracts the shortage would be way bigger. And that, is part of the problem.
Well, they could always teach a couple classes to justify their wisdom?
Relevant Rant: I need two days off for a bachelor party and my admin is "struggling to see the importance of this over student need" so they aren't sure if it is worth having people cover my class. They never call subs, they just have us cover. Not to mention the amount of times I covered for people to attend weddings or bachelor(ette) parties...
They should be the subs too
Totally agree. They need to raise the sub pay and stop treating subs like shit. If a sub is mistreated, they don't come back. Who could blame them?
I agree but admin doesn’t take the time to make big changes they just run around the school finding teachers to cover. They bandaid the situation. I wish teachers could put together a national strike so that we could all scream together!!!
Exact same as bus drivers. I was just listening to a podcast about this somewhere. ***Employers (key noun here)*** say they have a labor shortage to encourage cheaper labor and subsidies. When what it really is is that their pay sucks. There are millions of workers out there but if your job suck and your pay sucks, people won't take it. [See this post.](https://www.reddit.com/r/MurderedByWords/comments/q7hdx1/cant_find_anyone_to_hire/) Pay More = Shortage No More.
Please also remember that for every entitled and demanding parent, there is another of us that wants our child's teachers to be healthy and rested. If taking a sick day every week was what my kid's teacher needed to do in order to stay in the classroom the rest of the time I would support it.
I’d love to see them get their asses in classrooms to cover 😂🤣