SUB PAY RISING
Inland school districts are boosting the daily pay for substitute teachers.
Jurupa: Was $120 a day; now $145 a day
Riverside: Was: $100 a day; now: $140 a day
San Jacinto: Was: $110 a day; now: $130 a day
Moreno Valley: Was $100 a day; now $125 a day
Corona-Norco: Was: $110 a day; now $125 a day
NOTE: Some districts pay higher rates for credentialed substitutes. Also, long-term substitutes earn higher pay.
Kindergarten teacher Shellie Lancaster has vivid memories of the Great Recession, when Inland school districts were laying off instructors by the dozens and putting freezes on new hiring. “If there was an opening at a district, you’d have 500 applicants for that one position,” said Lancaster, 45, who got her teaching credential in 2011. New and experienced teachers got by working as substitutes, waiting to hop into their vehicles as soon as a school district dialed their number. This school year, Lancaster is the poster child for many former subs: she’s happily teaching full time. The trend is good news for substitutes being snapped up to fill permanent classroom positions, but bad news for school districts. They now face a shortage of substitute teachers to fill in on teacher training days, take over when an instructor is ill or replace a teacher on maternity leave. A robust economy, coupled with more money for schools means that districts are again in hiring mode after years of handing out pink slips. But they now need subs. “This is an issue for everyone,” said Tamara Elzig, assistant superintendent, personnel, for the Jurupa Unified School District, where Lancaster teaches at Ina Arbuckle Elementary School. To recruit new substitutes, Inland districts are raising the daily pay for substitutes, organizing job fairs and advertising heavily on education web sites such as edjoin.org. Last month, the Corona-Norco Unified School District raised its daily rate from $110 to $125. Long-term substitute rates went from $125 to $140. It was the second time in less than two years the pay climbed. “About 18 months ago we raised the daily rate for subs but the competition around us raised their rates as well,” said Samuel Buenrostro, assistant superintendent, human resources. INLAND PATTERN The local trend is easy to see. Also in August, the Jurupa district raised its daily pay for subs from $120 to $145, while increasing long-term substitute pay from $125 to $165, Elzig said. Anticipating the shortage, other districts hiked their rates in 2014. The Moreno Valley Unified School District went from $100 a day to $125, and retired Moreno Valley instructors on long-term assignments say pay went from $125 to $150 per day. Riverside Unified School District’s pay moved from $100 a day to $140 for a substitute with a credential and $160 per day for a long-term substitute.