By: Keith Kappes
Columnist
Carter County Times
The shortage of substitute teachers in Kentucky’s public schools has reached a critical point and, to our surprise, the General Assembly is midway toward passing a bill with a commonsense solution.
We salute primary sponsor Rep. Timmy Truett, R-McKee, an elementary school principal, who led the way in passing House Bill 387 by a vote of 88-4 in the Kentucky House. Thirteen other House members co-sponsored the bill.
Truett reported to the House Education Committee that his school recently had nine full-time teachers unable to work for various reasons but not one substitute was available.
He said most teachers are so dedicated to their jobs that they show up with the flu and other problems because they are aware of the scarcity of classroom subs.
At present, Kentucky law requires that substitute teachers have at least 64 semester hours of credit to become certified as a sub. That is about half of the credit needed for a bachelor’s degree.
HB 387 would allow the Educational Professional Standards Board to issue a one-year emergency substitute teaching certificate to individuals who have a high school diploma or the equivalent.
The legislation also would allow the board to issue a five-year substitute teaching certificate to anyone with a bachelor’s degree. In addition, a 10-year substitute teaching certificate would be permitted for individuals who are eligible for a regular Kentucky teaching certificate or who earlier held one or was a certified teacher in another state.
The bill likely will be referred to the Senate Education Committee where it is expected to move quickly to a committee endorsement and a favorable floor vote.
In practical terms, the bill makes good sense because being a substitute teacher is not an attractive option. It can be a difficult task because they have little, if any, time to prepare for teaching specific classes and students often are unruly.
Perhaps the best we can hope for is finding more sensible folks who can keep order. That can’t happen if no one is in charge.
Contact Keith at keithkappes@gmail.com.