My friend is a new teacher (right out of college) and has had trouble finding a full time teaching job for elementary school. She is thinking of becoming a substitute teacher but doesn’t know if it would pay the bills. Can substitute teachers make as much money as a full time teacher? If not then what else could she do?
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It depends on her district. Typically, if a sub has a degree their pay is comparable to that of a permanent teacher, but no benefits.
One advantage of subbing is to get to know different buildings and staffs, so that when a job opens up, she will know if she will be appropriate for the position. Also, the practicality of subbing depends upon how many days a month she gets work. Unless she gets a long term sub job, she may not know from day to day if she has work. She may want to check with the local school district personnel office and find out what their needs are. If they are short on subs, she will probably get several days a month of work. If they have an ample supply of subs, her outlook will not be as good. Also, she should consider what happens in the summer months, unless the district has year round school.
Suggestion: Try to get a full time job ( weekends and evenings during the school year), to pay the basic bills and use any money from substitute teaching to pay extra on bills and to put into savings. Related work might include tutoring. ( Our local community college pays $15 an hour for tutoring. Hours can be scheduled to be convenient , not necessarily during school hours or weekdays. Are there any private schools or learning centers nearby? If the local district has a state retirement plan instead of social security, she may want to work a job during the summer and part time which provides SS credit ours. ( Of course , this is assuming that SS is still in existence when she retires) Right now this is more for the medicare benefits than any retirement income. Sometimes local correctional institutes have a few teaching positions.
Waitressing in high end restaurants, serving as a rafting guide etc. can sometimes provide good income through tips. Wish her good luck.
No. you won’t make as much as a teacher, but you can do fairly well.
Take this example
The biggest problem will be subbing each day, so you want to be in a district where
1. you will be mostly likely subbing daily
2. A district you want to teach in.
Assuming the first, *daily subbing*, and let’s just assume a cost.
80 bucks x 5 = 400.00 (daily wage x 5 days)
Take out 20 percent for taxes. You make 320.00 a week.
320 x 4 = 1280.00
remember the assumptions. You really want to sub as much as you can with them, but, also pick subbing jobs you will be successful at. If you don’t know Spanish, don’t sub for a Spanish class UNLESS you haven’t subbed all week. Most of the time, you will get choices. Something else to keep in mind. If you like a certain school, then focus your subbing there. Simple as that.
Can it pay the bills? Sure, but you need to max out.
