>>Restrictions Ease for Utilizing Substitute Teachers in Pennsylvania
(Harrisburg, PA) -- New authorizations for utilizing substitute teachers are now in effect in Pennsylvania. State lawmakers have seen the need for doing this with the rise in COVID cases as well as with teacher shortages in some areas. The hiring changes are now in place and include retired teachers now being eligible to fill teacher vacancies on an emergency or short-term basis. A second change includes districts being able to use eligible college students and recent graduates of education programs to serve as substitute teachers. Also, teachers with inactive certificates may substitute for 180 days instead of ninety per school year. Another change is that educators with active Pennsylvania certificates and those with comparable out-of-state certificates can service as day-to-day substitutes for 20 days or longer under certain circumstances.