Education

N.D. to Consider Rolling Back Substitute Teacher Requirements

By Stephen Sawchuk — February 05, 2009 1 min read
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Here’s an interesting blurb out of North Dakota: the state is considering rolling back its requirements for substitute teachers due to a shortage.

The state has some of the toughest requirements for substitute teachers out there, generally requiring them to hold a full teaching certificate and a full four-year college degree. Most states have pretty lax rules for substitutes, and the practice of putting long-term subs in classrooms and rotating them has been one of the ways states have gotten around the “highly qualified” rules in the NCLB law.

North Dakota’s proposal would allow Title I paraprofessionals with a 2-year degree to serve as substitute teachers.

Clearly labor markets differ place to place, but the financial crisis seems to be having an opposite effect elsewhere. This story reports on a surplus of teachers in the Phoenix area.

A version of this news article first appeared in the Teacher Beat blog.