Eli5 – How do schools use substitute teachers? How do substitute teachers make reliable income?
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It depends. For short time substitutions such as if a teacher calls inn sick they make sure that other teachers can cover for them. Teachers do not have classes in all periods as they need time to plan future classes and to score tests and such. But this work can be deferred to later if there is an accute need for a substitute teacher. It is therefore preferred if the techers are not completely filled up with classes as they might not have any spare time during working hours for this kind of unexpected events. Some schools might even hire dedicated substitute teachers for this purpuse who normally do not have any classes. I do also know of schools where they have teachers working as administrators and can step inn as substitute teachers. For longer periods of time it may be necisary to hire a temporary worker to work as a substitute teacher for a class while the teacher is unable to attend.
Payment of these substitute teachers does depend on their work contract. It is reasonable to expect that any work would be counted as overtime. For dedicated substitute teachers they might have two different hourly rates for when they have classes and when they are just sitting idle. Or they may be paid full time anyway and just given other tasks when they are not substituting.
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