Six months after Columbia Public Schools chose a new company to provide substitute teachers, the full-time teachers say the system isn’t working.
Kathy Steinhoff, a Hickman High School teacher and president of the Columbia Missouri National Education Association, said a lack of substitutes has caused extra stress for teachers. She said she has seen teachers be denied time off for illness or professional development.
Jessica Tierney, a teacher at Two Mile Prairie Elementary School and president of the Columbia Missouri State Teachers Association, said she has been reassured that the district and EDUStaff LLC, CPS’ new substitute staffing provider, are actively recruiting and increasing pay for substitutes, but she doesn’t see this as a short-term solution.
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