There is no better feeling than going to your least favorite class, and seeing a white sheet of paper on the door, directing the class to go to the cafeteria. 

      There are already two other classes, yet only two substitutes for all classes. Knowing there is no way these substitutes can control all the students, the class becomes free period. 

     Students are talking loudly, unconcerned about any assignments their absent teachers may have posted. The substitutes can’t really do anything about it; it’s 75 students against two teachers. 

     Why does class have to be like this? Why can’t each substitute have one class and stay in the teachers room?

     Schools all over are having serious staffing problems as a result of COVID-19. 

     Some teachers don’t feel safe going back to work and may not be able to due to health concerns that could worsen if they were to be exposed to the virus. 

    If a teacher gets exposed to the virus but is vaccinated, they need to stay home until they get a negative test result, which can take anywhere from two days to a whole week, depending on test availability. In an even worse scenario, unvaccinated teachers would need to stay home for 14 days — that’s two weeks of their classes being put in the cafeteria! 

     However, Eastern has implemented mandatory vaccinations to be a part of the staff, so the latter scenario shouldn’t be an issue. This mandatory vaccination does present another problem; if teachers don’t want to get the vaccine they would have to quit, leading to more vacant teaching positions.

     It’s common for substitutes to travel between different high schools and fill in when needed, and by doing that they have a higher chance of getting exposed to COVID-19. Many subs are older, oftentimes retired teachers, so they need to be even more careful about protecting themselves from the virus. 

   With the stimulus check people have been receiving since the start of the pandemic, it could just be smarter to stay home or get a job that limits person-person contact. According to indeed.com, the salaries for substitute teachers range from 15 to 17 dollars. To make only that much for risking their health and safety may not be worth it.

    To try to combat this substitute shortage, Eastern is offering to pay teachers extra to cover a class in need of a teacher. Although this sounds like an easy fix, teachers need time to plan for their class and grade assignments, and that time would be taken up if they filled in for an absent teacher. 

     One school in Wayne Township up in North Jersey was so desperate for substitutes that they doubled their daily wage to $200! Their staffing issues were so inadequate that it was hindering them returning back to in-person learning. 

     These substitute shortages are included in the overall teacher shortage at Eastern and schools state- and nation-wide. Besides raising their pay, which may not be feasible, Eastern can’t do much about these shortages. Hopefully, the COVID-19 pandemic will continue to get better and result in more teachers coming back to work.