As of July 26, DCPS announced that it would move workers from Central Office to schools to serve as substitute teachers. The substitutes are supposed to fill spots while permanent teachers are searched for. This is DCPS’s response to the acute shortage of teachers from schools following the pandemic.  

Since January 2022 alone, DCPS has lost 372 teachers. This is a 52% increase from the normal number of resignations at the same time period during previous years. According to the DC Policy Center, the number of DCPS substitutes has fallen from 987 at the start of 2020 to 501 at the start of 2022. 

The wage for a substitute at DCPS is currently set at twenty dollars per hour, four dollars above the minimum wage. Due to low pay, substitutes explored forming a union last year.

According to Brandon Hall, the Strategy and Logistics Director at Jackson-Reed, the teaching history of the new substitutes will be taken into account, and they will teach subjects that align with their experience. Hall said that they are only planned to be short term substitutes, but that is subject to change if hiring permanent teachers is prolonged.

One teacher thought the additional substitutes won’t be helpful, and expressed concern that they would have the necessary teaching skills.

Chemistry teacher Will Gomaa said the situation was “making the best of a bad situation.” He noted that the policy is only a remedy for the structural issues behind it: “Some of [the reasons for the teacher shortage] are DCPS’s own fault for not getting quality candidates hired quickly enough.” Gomaa does mention that, for the duration of their stay, the substitutes from central office are going to provide continuity compared to receiving many short term substitutes. He also emphasized that the substitutes will teach the curriculum and not just watch over students 

Students, however, tended to have a more positive outlook on it. Karina Alarcon, a sophomore, noted that an increased number of substitutes is nice because “a lot of teacher’s have to be substitutes for other classes.”  Francesca Krevat, also a sophomore, recalled that at times last year some of her classes didn’t receive subs, noting one session where groups of students were moved temporarily to other classrooms for the class period.  

To increase school staffing, teachers thought the hiring process could be streamlined. Dale Glasspiegel mentioned the onboarding process as a major cause of staffing issues: “I’m less happy with the long-drawn-out onboarding process, where teachers are already hired, but are waiting for weeks for the green light from DCPS to lead a classroom and receive a paycheck.”