Local and State Education officials last week, talked about the difficulty finding substitute teachers. During the Citizens’ Open Forum period before the State Board of Education, Kaety Bowers, recently elected to the Blue Valley USD 229 School Board, asked the State Board to relax some requirements to get a Substitute Teacher License. Bowers says not having enough substitute teachers is increasing the burnout of teachers and causing some of them to quit.
Director of Teacher Licensure and Accreditation with the State Department of Education, Mischel Miller, says the agency is working on adjusting standards for subs. The current minimum requirement is 60 semester hours of college credit for an Emergency Substitute License. State Board Member, Jean Clifford, says the shortage of substitute teachers is having an effect of student learning and teachers’ anxieties. She requested that the State Board consider this issue soon.
