County’s substitute teachers plead for additional pay
Substitute teachers, who are making less than $16 an hour in Lee County’s public schools, are asking for what they say is a long overdue bump in compensation.
“We are teachers. Nineteen dollars would be a nice incentive because we don’t want to leave,” Lee County Association of Professional Substitute teachers President Sheridan Chester said. “It’s going to turn out the way it is supposed to turn out. I don’t think the children are supposed to suffer the rest of their lives for ignorant adults. We are concerned about our children.”
Over the last 10 years, substitute teachers have had two raises, each falling under 70 cents an hour, to put them at well below $16 an hour mark.
“They put us in a corner. We have no options. The only thing we could do is not show up. You cannot not show up, cannot ask for people to do that,” she said because the students would be the ones to suffer. “We still want to keep doing it, but we don’t want to do it for free.”
Chester said everybody knows what the problem is, but why isn’t anyone listening?
“It can be resolved, it’s just that easy,” she said.
The additional compensation is being asked because they, too, are feeling the pressure of inflation, as well as the high cost of living in Southwest Florida.
“It is too expensive to live here. There is no excuse for Florida to be the most expensive place to buy a home,” Chester said.
There are between 1,500 and 1,700 substitute teachers who fill in for the 250 to 400 teacher outages a week, she said. They can get a call as early as 6 p.m. the night before to as late as 5:30 a.m. the morning they are needed.
“It’s up to you to take the call. Sometimes you get long-term assignments,” Chester said, adding that they collect long-term assignment pay after 30 days. “One of my board members had the job 29 days and then they switched her to another class and then she didn’t get the long-term pay. The exclusion of fairness, that is the only real issue I have.”
She said there is no respect.
“We do the work that the teachers don’t want to do because they aren’t treated right. They expect us to pick up the slack,” Chester said. “I feel sorry for everybody in the situation, teachers as well. We are the trickle down. We aren’t considered employees — we are at-will employees. If a student doesn’t like you, or principal doesn’t like you, you are on a do not call list.”
Substitute teachers are in the classrooms because they love what they do, as most have taught before.
“We had a sub working until she was 92 years old. I am 75,” she said.
Unfortunately, everyone that has a passion for teaching is slowly dwindling, as Chester said teachers are walking out because conditions are so inhumane.
“It’s not education anymore,” she said. “You can’t encourage people to teach and become part of something that is so vital because they are diminishing it every day.”
Chester said there are no benefits for substitute teachers, no safety protocols and, again, no respect.
“They made no safety preventions for us for COVID. We came in for COVID when teachers called out,” she said.
With that said, Chester said the students will always be her babies, as she has done the job for no money for so long, it doesn’t matter anymore.
“The children are getting so cheated in terms of education,” she said.
When Chester retired from the FDA due to a disability, she began vacationing to Southwest Florida where the warm temperatures helped her. She found Big Brother, Big Sister because she wanted to be with children. She eventually became a substitute teacher for the School District of Lee County after taking a week-long class and becoming certified.
“I still love it,” Chester said 22 years later. “It’s not a job. Real teachers are drawn to teach. It’s in you to teach. I don’t know how to operate any other way.”
She said she’s seriously thinking about running for the superintendent’s position.
“The only person that is going to make a difference is someone who cares about everyone that is involved in the process,” Chester said. “If we are not a team, what are we and what are we preparing our children for.”
School district spokesperson Rob Spicker said guest teachers make between $15 to $15.93 an hour.
– Less than a bachelor’s degree make $15 an hour
– $15.22 for a bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited college/university
– $15.93 for a bachelor’s degree or higher from an accredited college/university and 10 years of verified work experience in a public institution, either instructional or administrative instruction position.
“If they work more than 30 consecutive days, so six weeks since weekends are not included, they become long-term guest teachers and are paid $24.49 an hour. They are also paid that rate retroactively for the 30 days work that they already put in,” he said.
As far as the request to make $19 an hour, Spicker said discussions are underway about raising the rate of pay for guest teachers.
Guest teachers have to meet minimum qualifications of a high school diploma, as well as providing the district official transcripts in a sealed envelope.
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