Oppose Requirement of Administrators to Serve as Substitute Teachers

I am opposed to HB 430 that would require every superintendent, principal, assistant principal and other senior administrator in a school district to serve as a substitute teacher for a class at least two days during each school year.  I am rather confused by the intent of this bill. What is this suppose to address or improve?  Will students benefit from this bill, will learning be enhanced or is this a bill that is a response to a few people that feel administrators do not do anything. 

Teachers across the state will testify that certified substitutes do not and cannot provide the quality of instruction that the regular teacher can provide due to the historical perspective of that regular teacher in terms of knowledge of students and specific content.  The curriculum is constantly evolving, tailored for specific grades and content areas.  Although administrators have awareness of these changing strategies, and have participated in continuing education, the students lose when their regular teacher is not in the classroom.  More importantly, success of that classroom experience will be based on the quality of the lessons that are provided by the regular teacher for the substitute teacher.  I assure you that many teachers have worked ill rather than have to spend the extra time preparing for a substitute teacher OR the teacher leaves a review lesson composed of independent practice, rather than provide the detailed lesson addressing instructional strategies.  Quality teachers do not trust others to do their job.  Quality teachers understand accountability and do not want to lose valuable days of instruction for issues that have no validity toward improving instruction.  Quality teachers are present unless ill or unexpected circumstances have arisen which prevent them from attending school.

I would hope that we could all agree that intentionally scheduling substitutes in classrooms for any reason other then teacher absences is not a sound educational decision.  Placing administrators “on-call” to assume substitute assignments would prove to be virtually impossible due to the many demands of their current responsibilities.  If an emergency arises on a campus or at the district level, that emergency will take precedent, who will then assume the classroom.  Is the state going to support paying a teacher to be “on-stand by”?

Every administrator in the state is a certified teacher and has classroom experience; those experiences are the foundations of our profession and are experiences that are never forgotten.  Administrators are selected based on successes in classrooms as well as reported leadership skills.  As administrators, we may no longer be responsible for teaching students; however, we teach teachers and other staff.  Administrative certification requires administrators to have continuing hours of training related to all areas of the educational system.  These qualified professionals do not have to assume a substitute role to prove they have retained the ability to teach.  Administrators teach teachers, parents, board members, community members and hopefully, even legislators.

I respectfully request that you oppose this legislation and continue your efforts toward improving education for children.