Throughout the fall I conducted a survey of teachers and principals in all the schools in my congressional district.  I found that teachers and administrators alike want to pursue more professional development, to improve their skills and use the most innovative and effective teaching strategies available, but they simply do not have the time.  Many teachers are already overburdened with the daily duties of teaching, coaching or leading other after-school activities, and preparing future lesson plans.  When they need a substitute to fill in while they attend a training class, there often isn’t one available.  In fact, the substitute teacher shortage in Rhode Island – and in many states across the country – is so acute that many teachers are being forced to give up their planning periods to cover for sick colleagues.  Some states have even placed moratoriums on leaves of absence for professional development.  

To alleviate the shortage, districts have been forced to dramatically lower their hiring standards for substitute teachers.  Twenty-eight states allow principals to hire anyone with a high school diploma or GED who is 18 or older, and over half of all states do not check references or even conduct face-to-face interviews with potential substitutes.  Yet, our students spend an inordinate amount of time with them – an average of 365 days over the course of their elementary and secondary education.  Alarmingly, minimal qualification requirements for substitutes have been linked to lower educational achievement among students.  

So, today, along with 14 of my colleagues, I am introducing the “No Substitute for Quality Teaching Act.” This bill will create a demonstration grant program for school districts to experiment with creative ways to address the substitute teacher shortage.  The funds will go directly to local education agencies, which may tackle the problem alone or in conjunction with neighboring districts.  

States across the country are already dealing with this issue in a myriad of ways.  Wisconsin, Florida, California, New Mexico, Washington, Pennsylvania and Minnesota, to name a few, have created permanent substitute teacher pools, implemented training programs to equip substitutes with the skills they need to be effective at their jobs, conducted recruitment campaigns, and raised substitute compensation.   Let’s provide the necessary resources to disseminate the lessons these states have already learned, and to find new ways to solve this problem by passing the No Substitute for Quality Teaching Act.