Apples in the News

I remembered that I have been holding onto a couple clippings from the local newspaper. The clippings both have to do with substitute teachers and the vital role they play in the community. One is from the substitute teacher view the other is from the districts'. We (local guest teachers) were pretty darned pleased with the job Register Guard writer, Anne Williams did reporting on guest teachers in her day-in-the-life style story.

Above you can see Ron Gilmore, one of Eugene's finest guest teachers hard at work. Don't let his cool demeanor fool you, he was nervous about having a reporter and photographer watching and recording his every move. He felt fortunate that he knows all the students who were in the classroom that day and that it was a school in which he was well known and comfortable. True professional he is he didn't skip a beat when on a cloudy day in March, 2010:

One boy refused to take his backpack off his head.

Then, when they were supposed to be sitting quietly at their desks for an opening coloring activity, several children took turns hiding behind the coat rack.

"Cade's not here today," one girl reported with mock seriousness, dissolving in giggles when the classmate by that name peeked out from his hiding spot. So began afternoon kindergarten . . . with a substitute teacher . . . Ron Gilmore, who after 29 year as a substitute, is not easily rattled . . . certainly not by kindergartners with a case of the Friday wiggles. --Anne Williams; The Register Guard, 3/7/2010

As Ms. Williams continues:

This is not the career he pictured for himself: He wanted to be a classroom teacher, and for a long time he held out hope of getting hired. But he's proud of what he does. Over the years, he's cultivated relationships with scores of teachers who have asked him back again, building up a reliable "clientele."

And forget the stereotypes of children running amok or whiling away the hours watching movies when the regular teacher is away. Classroom time on Gilmore's watch is put to good use, he insists.

"It's not lost instructional time," said Gilmore, a big man with a gentle voice . . . "We basically follow the teacher's plan that they've set out, and what the teacher planned for that day is what we will teach. So there's no lost flow." -- Anne Williams; The Register Guard. 3/7/2010

What Ms. Williams of the Register Guard doesn't miss is the important roll guest teachers play in the schools and in the lives of the students, teachers, support staff and administrators:

Still, this is not a job for the faint of heart, or the large of ego. Substitute teachers fill a low-profile and sometimes awkward role in education. Compared with their full-time counterparts, there's little in the way of autonomy or recognition, and for many there's constant uncertainty about when the next job will come. Except for some long-term gigs -- filling in for a teacher who's on parental leave, for instance -- there's scant opportunity to bond with students or other teachers. --Anne Williams; The Register Guard, 3/7/2010

Contract negotiations between the guest teacher union (Eugene Association of Substitute Teachers, EAST) and the district was one of the reasons Ms. Williams was reporting on the subject:

Last month, Gilmore and his colleagues appealed to the ** School Board for a pay raise that district officials have so far indicated no willingness to grant. The district is one of only three in Oregon whose substitute teachers are unionized, and the group -- Eugene Association of Substitute Teachers, or EAST -- has been working without a contract since last June. A mediated bargaining session in early February yielded no progress.

Pay isn't a big issue for every substitute teacher, of course. Some work merely to enhance an already comfortable household income. A goodly portion -- about 20 percent in Eugene and 7 percent in Springfield, according to district estimates -- are retired educators, some seeking to supplement their pensions and many keeping a hand in because they love teaching.

But for a core group, the work is critical. Some are like Gilmore -- "career" substitutes either by choice or default. Others are recent college graduates who have yet to land a permanent position and may be repaying student loans. --Anne Williams; The Register Guard, 3/7/2010

Ron Gilmore wasn't the only guest teacher Ms. Williams talked to about the state things for guest teachers and as is the case with many of us:

"I don't want to get rich, I just want to pay my bills and not have to worry, worry, worry," said Sage Siverstein . . . who has worked off and on as a substitute teacher since 2003 after being laid off from her first teaching job in Washington state. She still hopes to land a permanent position but recognizes that Oregon's financially strapped school districts anticipate hiring few teachers over the next couple of years.

Silverstein said she doesn't object to the pay rate; in fact, according to the National Substitute Teachers Alliance, it ranks among the highest in the country. Pay in some regions runs as low as $20 a day, with the average hovering around $105.

The bigger problem, as Siverstein sees it, is the scarcity of work. That may have something to do with the size of the substitute pool . . . Though Silverstein has built relationships with teachers who request her and tries to "market" herself aggressively, she doesn't work as often as she'd like . . . Last summer, she nearly became homeless.

Despite the many challenges of substitute teaching -- financial and otherwise -- Silverstein said it's a job she loves 98 percent of the time. She prides herself on her ability to hook the students in the opening minutes of class, make them want to work for her and proceed with the day's lesson without missing a beat. Most of the time she feels respected by students and teachers alike. --Anne Williams; The Register Guard, 3/7/2010

Yes, guest teachers -- AKA substitute teachers -- have earned and deserve that respect.

Silverstein and other substitutes said it's rare to walk into a classroom and find no lesson plan, especially since the advent of e-mail. On those rare occasions when they have to improvise, they draw on a time-tested "bag of tricks."

More difficult, they say, is understanding and managing the personalities and particular needs of the students in their classes. Many teachers leave a seating chart and let the substitute teacher know which children might be likely to misbehave or need extra assistance, but that's not necessarily the norm.

"In some buildings, everything they know about a kid is available; in others, you go in cold," said Pat Kessinger, a former high school teacher who quit to raise her children, then returned as a substitute and found the flexibility and lighter workload to her liking.

She recalled . . . a high school student who repeatedly got up in the middle of class to fiddle with a light fixture, then mutter on the way back to his seat . . . to later learn that he had obsessive compulsive disorder and Tourette's syndrome. --Anne Williams; The Register Guard, 3/7/2010

Most guest teachers can relate to what Pat Kessinger was telling Ms. Williams.

Both Kessinger, 62 and Gilmore are among a small group of substitute teachers who take advantage of health coverage provided to those who work at least 80 days a year. Maintaining that insurance coverage was a central issue when the substitute teachers' union last bargained its contract two years ago.

Gilmore said that for the first time, he's starting to worry about sustaining his hours. . . Last year, he earned about $14,500 as a substitute . . . he typically supplements his income in the summer doing jobs that have included painting houses and working at a packaging plant.

"A lot of my people are reaching retirement age," he said of the teachers who regularly request him as a substitute. "It's made the last couple years kind of tough." --Anne Williams; The Register Guard, 3/7/2010

And, with the cutbacks necessary to keep school districts afloat in this economy, the next couple years may be even tougher for guest teachers.