Teaching is a rewarding job. Yet, despite the accolades about the profession, the number of persons preparing for the profession is dwindling.
“We have a crisis in education and our district is starting to see that,” Homewood District 153 Superintendent Scott McAlister told school board members at a recent meeting. The district’s three schools – Willow, Churchill and James Hart – opened with a full complement of certified teachers, but “we are now using third-party agents to go out and get candidates for open positions, specifically special education and PE.”
McAlister said he doesn’t know what the future will hold. He’s most concerned about what goes on right now in Homewood schools.
“I bring this up because of the impact I feel this has on our staff. When I look at what is causing them anxiety it is the constant coverage they need to provide within our buildings because we don’t have enough teachers, we don’t have enough substitute teachers, we don’t have enough assistants,” he said.
The story is the same in Flossmoor District 161, said Eric Melnyczenko, director of human resources.
“The teacher shortage has had an impact in District 161. Unfortunately, we started the school year with three open teaching positions,” he said. “We have been able to fill one of them, and we are continuing to look for people for the other two.”
Homewood-Flossmoor High School has a full staff roster, said Jodi Bryant, director of human resources. The district is beginning to devise a system called Educator Rising that would encourage non-certified staff to prepare to move into the certified ranks of teacher, social worker, speech therapist, etc., whether it be helping them earn a degree or encouraging those with one degree to move up with a second degree.
All three administrators say the pool of teacher/staff applicants is small. In preparation for the 2022-23 school year, District 153 advertised several positions and only a music position had an application pool in the double-digits. McAlister recalled that 10 years ago, “we did literally have dozens, hundreds (of applicants) for open teaching positions and now it is unusual.”
Melnyczenko agreed.
“The pool of candidates is definitely not as deep as it used to be,” he said.
H-F plans to work with colleges and universities to develop a pipeline for student-teachers, Bryant said. It is a great way for prospective teachers to become familiar with H-F and be part of the new teacher pipeline.
All three districts are in need of substitute teachers — both short term and long term.
All teachers are licensed through the Illinois State Board of Education.
A substitute teacher license has a $50 registration fee and is valid for five years. Full-time substitutes also must have a bachelor’s degree. They can be contracted as a teacher for up to 90 days or for 120 days in the school year. Teachers also can be hired for emergency situations up to 30 days when no teacher is under contract with the district.
A short-term license has a $25 fee and is good through June 30, 2023. The substitute can teach up to five consecutive days per licensed teacher. Substitutes can apply for a temporary license with an associate’s degree or higher from a regionally accredited college or university, or at least 60 semester hours of coursework from a regionally accredited college or university.
Details on how to apply for a license are at isbe.net.