OREGON, Ohio — School districts continue to deal with worker shortages including substitute teachers, but the Ohio legislature acted last month to address the problem and local school officials say the changes are helping.
Up until now, people wanting to be a substitute teacher in Ohio needed to have a bachelor's degree. But Senate Bill 1, which passed on Oct. 28, dropped that requirement for the rest of this school year.
And local officials like Oregon City Schools superintendent Hal Gregory say it's having a positive impact.
"There's still a big need, but now that we have some flexibility, that's really helping," Gregory said.
Gregory says back in September when WTOL 11 first reported on substitute shortages in the area, the situation was dire. But he says all that has changed.
"When district-wide you're down 10 to 12 subs that aren't covered, and now on a daily basis we're either fully covered or down two or three subs, that's a big difference," he said.
The change is a direct result of a move by the Ohio General Assembly. It removed the requirement that you had to have a bachelor's degree to get a substitute teaching license.
Gregory says they've already added 15 subs since the law took effect. But he wants to reassure parents, they're not taking just anyone from the community. He says candidates still need to meet strict requirements and go through a regular hiring process.
"They also need to pass a background check and they also need to pass a drug test," he said.
And some of these candidates taking on these openings are going to school to be future teachers.
Raymond Witte is the dean for the Judith Herb College of Education at the University of Toledo. He says this a good temporary fix for the worker shortage and an invaluable opportunity for his students.
"It's kind of like an extra opportunity and extra experience that is really going to make them a stronger candidate when they do finish out their program and their degree," he said.
Still, Gregory says the shortage isn't going away anytime soon, so he'd like lawmakers to make the change permanent.
"We are always going to have a sub shortage and the more flexibility we have as a local district to hire good people to be in front of our kids, the better," he said.
For now, this change is only temporary until the end of the school year. And while Gregory says he'd like to see this stay, other educators like Witte believe when it comes to teaching our kids, we should set the bar higher and bring back the college-degree requirement once shortages go away.
