ROANOKE TIMES
Copyright (c) 1996, Roanoke Times
DATE: Sunday, November 17, 1996 TAG: 9611180067
SECTION: VIRGINIA PAGE: C-1 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: JOEL TURNER STAFF WRITER
SUBSTITUTE TEACHERS in Roanoke get paid $45 a day - before taxes - to be anywhere, any time.
Barbara Dickinson is not choosy.
On Tuesday, she taught electronics. On Friday, she taught art. Next week, she'll teach social studies. She also has taught Spanish, physical education, special education, driver's education and other classes.
She's a substitute teacher who often works three or four days a week at Patrick Henry High School and other schools in Roanoke. She gets paid $45 a day with no benefits.
"You spend all day at school, and when you get your check and see all they've taken out, you think you could make almost as much by baby sitting," Dickinson said.
"You couldn't make a living by subbing, but I enjoy it. When I'm ready to find a full-time teaching job, I hope it will help me get a job."
Dickinson, a former elementary teacher, has been substituting for seven years. She was a full-time teacher for nine years before she stopped to raise a family. She said the substitute work suits her now because it gives her freedom and allows her to go on business trips with her husband or do other things when she wants to.
"But we don't get paid nearly enough," she said. "You have to have a college degree to be a sub and you don't get paid any more for experience or seniority."
Roanoke has the lowest pay for substitutes among Roanoke Valley school systems. Roanoke County pays $50 a day, and Salem's pay is $58 for substitutes with a teaching license.
The pay for substitutes varies in the state and nation. In some Northern Virginia localities, substitutes make $60 to $65 a day. In Montgomery County, Md., the pay is $81 a day. In Cobb County, Ga., near Atlanta, substitutes make $49 a day, and $60 a day in Columbus, Ohio.
Roanoke school officials will propose a pay raise next year because they are having trouble finding enough qualified substitutes on some days.
Faye Pleasants, executive for human resources for Roanoke schools, said she will also recommend that a full-time teaching assistant be hired at each middle school to fill in for absent teachers.
The city already has teaching assistants at each elementary school who are available as substitutes. If the assistants are not needed to fill in for absent teachers, they are assigned other duties.
Teachers can be absent for a variety of reasons: illness, personal leave, educational leave, training, a death in the family, jury duty and others.
Nationwide, absenteeism has increased in recent years as age and increased stress have caused more teachers to become ill or take time off, surveys have shown.
Educators say teachers are exposed to a variety of illnesses and the average age of teachers is rising because many are nearing retirement. The stress on all teachers leads to absences, they say.
In the past school year, an average of 40 teachers a day were absent during some months in Roanoke. The city has 1,125 teachers.
The annual cost of replacing regular teachers can be large for some school systems. Despite the modest salary, Roanoke expects to spend $485,000 this year on substitutes. Combined, the three school systems in the valley have budgeted about $1 million this year for substitutes.
The Rev. Jimmy Young is one of Roanoke's veteran and most popular substitutes. He has been filling in for absent teachers for 18 years.
Unlike many substitutes, Young isn't seeking a permanent teaching job because he is a full-time minister at Jerusalem Baptist Church.
He said he always has had the desire to motivate young people, and substitute teaching gives him that opportunity. It also provides him flexibility because he can turn down an assignment if he has something else to do that day.
While the pay is not lucrative, Young said he finds the work rewarding and challenging.
With higher pay, Salem and Roanoke County have less difficulty finding substitutes. But they, too, are hard pressed to fill absences on some days.
"There are some days in the spring when we run into problems when we have people out with athletic teams for trips to games and we have others who are ill," said Michael Bryant, assistant superintendent for Salem. "We can always use more good quality substitutes."
Bryant said many Salem substitutes are education majors and licensed teachers who are seeking full-time teaching jobs. "They're looking for employment and want to sub so principals will get to know them and consider them for openings."
Berkley Lucas, director of instructional personnel for Roanoke County schools, said many people in the county's pool of substitutes are also seeking teaching jobs. Others have college degrees, but they aren't interested in full-time posts because they have children or other responsibilities, he said.
The county keeps a list of 250 potential substitutes, but some of them also fill in for absent teachers in Roanoke, Salem and adjacent school systems, Lucas said.
"On certain days, when we have teachers out because of educational conferences and other reasons, we can have difficulty in getting enough people," Lucas said. That doesn't happen often.
The county tries to keep its substitute pay competitive with nearby school systems, but budget restraints limit the raises sometimes, Lucas said.
In addition to the full-time teaching assistants at the elementary schools, Roanoke has a list of about 150 substitutes. It has added some in recent weeks to help ease the shortage.
But not all are available on any given day, Pleasants said. Some also substitute for other school systems and may be working for another locality that day. Some have agreed to teach at only certain schools or grades. Still others may decline to work some days because they are not under contract and can't be required to fill in for an absent teacher.
Substituting can be a demanding job, educators say. Some students give little respect to substitutes and often see it as a chance to goof off. Sometimes, regular teachers don't leave lesson plans and the substitute's role is reduced to baby-sitting.
"Yes, students do try to take advantage of a sub and pull the wool over your eyes," said Dickinson, who does most of her substituting at the high school level. "Kids can be rude because they know you won't be there the next day. You have no real authority over them."
Annette Vest, a substitute elementary teacher for both Roanoke and Roanoke County, said she has had to deal with disruptive children and discipline problems she never expected to encounter.
"Some days, I don't feel the pay is enough; but I'm trying to find a full-time teaching job, so the money is not the most important thing for me," she said.
Vest, a 1994 graduate of Radford University who is a certified elementary teacher, said she sometimes substitutes four or five days a week. She has worked at almost every elementary school in the city and county.
"Being a substitute can be tougher than being a regular teacher, especially if the regular teacher doesn't leave lesson plans," she said. "Then you have to handle discipline, as well as the lessons."
Vest said substitutes must have flexible schedules and be willing to make last-minute changes in their plans. Sometimes, she gets calls as late as 7 a.m. asking her to fill in for an absent teacher that day.
"It's nice to know the night before whether you'll be working the next day, but some mornings you can get calls as early as 5:30 or 6," she said.
Michelle Sublett, a former elementary teacher in Chesterfield who now lives in the Roanoke Valley, said the pressures on a substitute are harder during the school day than on a regular teacher.
"But you can go home at the end of the day and you don't have to take work home," she said. "You don't have to worry about lessons plans and grading papers."
Sublett averages three or four days a week as a substitute in Roanoke elementary schools.
"For people who want to make money, the pay is not great," she said. "But it doesn't bother me because I just like teaching and I have a husband and don't have to depend solely on substituting."
Sublett may return to full-time teaching and thinks the substitute work could help her get a job.
Susan Kramer is substituting in Roanoke County while she seeks a full-time teaching post. She was an elementary teacher in Connecticut before she moved here with her husband.
"This is a way to get known by the school system staff and try to work your way into a job," Kramer said. "I honestly don't look at the pay because my ultimate goal is a full-time job."
She said substituting is different than being a regular teacher because "you don't know the children and the personalities, and so you have to deal with that."
Dickinson has found that school administrators and regular teachers are generally helpful to substitutes. "It's good to get that support when you have to walk into a class and you don't know the students' names."
Still, there are some days and some classes that can test a substitute's patience, she said. "I've had some terrible days, but you remember the class and you don't go back there if they call you for that class."
LENGTH: Long : 165 lines ILLUSTRATION: PHOTO: ROGER HART/Staff. Barbara Dickinson hands out completedby CNBart projects to a crafts class at Patrick Henry High School, where
she substitutes. Dickinson likes the work, but says substitutes
deserve to be paid more. color. Graphic: Chart by staff: Substutute
teacher. KEYWORDS: MGR