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- Many students may not have the opportunity to get to know their substitute teachers since they typically only come in for a day or two at a time.
- Substitute teachers tend to get calls the morning of the day they work and have only a few hours to prepare lesson plans.
- Some areas of the country are experiencing sub shortages, while others are overly reliant on long-term substitutes.
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As back-to-school season gets into full swing, substitute teachers will be gearing up for that early morning call into work.
While many students recall having subs cover for absent teachers, they don’t usually have a chance to get to know their temporary instructor in the few days spent together.
Some may not know, for instance, that many states don’t require substitute teachers to have schooling past a high school diploma in order to get certified. Or that some areas of the country are experiencing sub shortages, while others are overly reliant on long-term substitutes.
Here are seven facts you may not have known about what it’s like to be a substitute teacher.
Are you a substitute teacher with a story to share? Email aakhtar@businessinsider.com.
Substitute teachers are paid $13.79 an hour.
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As of May 2018, over 500,000 substitute teachers worked in the US, according to data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS).
Subs earn a median hourly wage of $13.79, and an average hourly wage of $15.56. The current federal minimum wage is $7.25 per hour.
According to BLS data, the vast majority of subs work in elementary and secondary schools, but those working in post-graduate vocational or trade schools earn the most overall. California, Texas, and New York employ the greatest number of subs.
Substitutes in Maryland earn the most out of any state overall, while those in Alabama earn the least.
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Maryland subs make an average hourly wage of $28.29. Hawaii, Oregon, and Vermont are the next highest-paying states at $22.61, $21.89, and $20.39, respectively.
Alabama is the state where subs earn the least, at just $9.19 an hour on average. Tennessee, Mississippi, and Idaho follow behind at $9.74, $9.77, and $10.55, respectively.
Montgomery, Alabama, pays subs $8.33 an hour, the lowest of all US cities. Springfield, Massachusetts, pays the most at $26.84.
Source: The Bureau of Labor Statistics
Schools call subs early in the morning to ask them to step in for a teacher.
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Subs are called into work at around 5 a.m., reports education site ThoughtCo. —meaning the job works best for early birds.
After getting the gig and accepting it, subs may report to a different school from where’d they been the last time they subbed. They’ll read the lesson plan left behind by the regular teacher just before class starts, according to the Huffington Post.
Source: ThoughtCo., Huffington Post
See the rest of the story at Business Insider
See Also:
- Public-school teachers reveal the 7 hardest things about their job
- The 25 most valuable college majors
- 11 snacks you used to see in every movie theater but hardly find in concession stands today
SEE ALSO: THEN AND NOW: Here are all the ways being a public-school teacher has changed in the last 50 years
Source: Business Insider – feedback@businessinsider.com (Allana Akhtar)