8. A Substitute Job

A Substitute Job

Remember that offer to teach Environmental Chemistry?  I was still trying to get in there to teach those students.

If it had to take Human Resources over two months with my application to make the offer, perhaps I could get in there as a long-term sub from the beginning of the year.  They had my application in August.  They couldn’t do it.  I could not sub for these students because I was not in this district’s Guest Teacher Pool due to their hiring freeze. 

One hundred and twenty students have a Chemistry class on their transcripts, even though for months sat 40-to-a-class with a sub.  Not unprecedented.  This happened to other students (including my son) at this highly regarded school several years before – they had most of a year of high school science with subs.  It was a wasted science year, even though some of the subs were good science teachers.  It put those students behind for future high school sciences, to say nothing of college.

There are a few outstanding, yet retired, advanced science teachers who can sub when they are available.  They have a limit on how many days they can sub, which is considered “double-dipping” – being paid along with receiving a pension.  So, they couldn’t sub for the months required in either of these cases, even if they were willing.

After I turned down the job, I asked HR if I might please be in their district’s pool so that I could still help out as a sub in that classroom.  I could at least sub for the Food Science and Nutrition unit, maybe even sub until the end of the year if need be, except for the days I needed in May.  The HR lady liked the idea, and said she would send the Guest Teacher Pool office a recommendation that I be "invited" to their pool. 

I didn’t receive the invitation, so I called HR and she told me it had been requested.  Weeks later I finally received the invitation email, on the condition that I would first attend additional Guest Teacher training in January before I could sub.  It’s a state requirement (health and abuse issues).  I might be able to substitute for them by the mid-winter or spring. 

I had already completed the same state-required sub-training for my other Oregon district where I subbed.  It would not transfer. 

I waited until January and attended the training.  I was notified in December that there would be an additional waiting period after attending the inservice for completion of reference checking and criminal history checking before employment.  All of this had been done through this district's HR already, but the Guest Teacher Office had to do their own.

I wasn’t really the one waiting.  There were 120 chemistry students who needed a teacher.  By the time I had completed the training and the background checks, they had hired the teacher without the Chem endorsement.  I never subbed in their classroom.

The advanced culinary textbook series I co-authored is used in our district.  The Foods teacher (Chef) at one of our high schools has an advanced culinary team that he takes to national competitions.  His class uses these books.  Because I was the co-author, and since I was local, I had been invited to their classroom for their competition prep work (for which I had the added benefit of being able to eat their fantastic food creations).  He asked me if I could sub his other Foods classes while he took his team out-of-state to compete.  I was now in the Guest Teacher Pool!  I said yes!   

The district said no.  He would be gone a week.  

An absence of longer than three days requires a substitute endorsed in FACS.

I was deemed unqualified to sub for the teacher who was using the textbooks I wrote.  

I had a valid teaching license, but due to over-qualification and lack of response from TSPC, I did not have the FACS endorsement. 

Not being able to sub in Foods, and not being an Environmental Chemistry teacher every day, I loaded my life with writing deadlines, my May travel, subbing in my other district, and such. 

The Guest Teacher Pool office told me to take their online safety training (which was the same set of topics as the inservice I had just attended).  For some reason, I could not log-in as a user under the name and password I was told to use.  I also couldn't set up a new account to get a new user name and password as a workaround.  I couldn't get it done.  Again, the very same online program in the other district had worked just fine, and I had completed it.  I could not transfer it from that district to this one.  I had to begin from scratch, and I couldn't.  My subbing eligibility would run out soon if I didn't get this done.

I got a phone call from the Guest Teacher Pool office telling me to sub more often.  

I asked them if I please might just be a high school science sub when needed, so that I could combine it with my other employment.  I figured they would be OK with it, since it is a day-rate job with no guarantees or benefits.  They said no, that I would have to daily-sub more often (every school, every subject, every grade level), or send them a letter of resignation and not be in their Guest Teacher Pool any longer.  No other options. 

I sent the letter of resignation. 

I must say that here, too, the people I spoke with were very nice.  They were only doing their jobs.  I was only doing my job too. 

I kept subbing in my other district.  I greatly admire their science faculty.  They know that I have writing deadlines and sometimes can’t take sub jobs, and they work with me.  They have a wonderful office staff.  When their sub coordinator heard about my FACS predicament, she took it upon herself to try to figure out a way to get me enough days subbing FACS to count as a practicum.  TSPC would not accept it.

Sometimes students are stinkers to subs. 

A retired educator friend of mine who double-dips as a sub taught me to get the class photo list and completely MEMORIZE their names and faces within the first 5 MINUTES of class.  It works wonders when you can do it.

I enjoy the students.  I love teaching science – freshman integrated, biology, chemistry, anatomy & physiology (my personal favorite).  I learn more about teaching every time I’m in the classroom.  I love seeing the students’ faces as they understand it, when they had feared it would be too difficult. 

I kept my application active, and continued to check for openings.  I got a call one day. . .