"Mom, Are You Free to Sub?"

With teacher vacancies at record highs, parents are being asked to step in

- MEG ST-ESPRIT

When Christine Webber* heard that her children's school was facing a substitute teacher shortage, she decided to sign up to fill in herself. With two girls in school full-time, the Albany, NY, mom thought it might be a good fit. The pay was low, but other factors made the role appealing to her. As a parent-teacher organization mom who was on multiple committees, she already knew the school well.

"I'm here all the time anyway," she laughs.

"I might as well get paid for it." Christine is one of many parents across the country stepping up to fill in amid growing teacher shortages. At the start of the 2022-2023 school year, 45% of America's schools were operating with teacher vacancies. According to Chalkbeat, teacher turnover rates are the highest they've been in the past five years, having risen about 2% across the country. This means that in a school with 100 teachers, two more per year quit than in a typical pre-pandemic school year.

This mass exodus from the teaching profession also means that each day about 20% of substitute teacher openings remain vacant. There are perks to subbing, Christine says, such as having a schedule similar to that of her kids, but filling in at their school can burden her with guilt. "I had to make the tough choice one day to take a sub job when my child wanted me to be at the bookfair when she went," she says. "I felt bad that either they needed to find someone else for coverage or my daughter would be disappointed." She chose the bookfair, but the tension between the needs of the school and those of her kids weighs heavily on her. She's not alone: The current teacher shortage is yet another gap in American society being filled by moms.

ASKING TOO MUCH