Atlanta Public Schools is trying to recruit substitute teachers by offering a $500 bonus for those willing to teach in-person.
The new incentive aims to build up the district’s substitute teacher workforce. During the coronavirus pandemic, many districts struggled to fill classroom vacancies created when teachers are in quarantine or cannot come to work.
APS budgeted $25,000 toward the program, enough to give the bonus to 50 newly hired substitutes.
“For substitutes, we’ve actually proposed pay raises for next year, but we needed some right-now incentives … from now until the end of the year,” said Skye Duckett, the district’s chief human resources officer.
Atlanta substitutes with a teaching certificate make $115 a day, and those who fill long-term positions make $140. Non-certified substitutes make $90 a day.
APS hasn’t increased substitute pay in more than four years. As part of next year’s proposed budget, there’s a recommendation to increase pay by $5 a day. If the board approves the raise, it will cost APS about $257,000 next school year.
The district also plans to give current substitutes a $500 “retention bonus” in late April as part of a larger proposal to pay all full- and part-time employees a one-time stipend.
The substitute incentive is the newest addition to a series of financial hiring perks. In a recent letter, Superintendent Lisa Herring said the goal is “to encourage qualified teachers and substitutes to join Atlanta Public Schools.”
As it has for the last few years, APS will pay $3,000 to teachers hired before June 1 to work in hard-to-fill programs such as special education, career and technical education and dual-language immersion.
And teachers hired for turnaround schools, of which there are currently 18, will receive a bonus of up to $1,000. These are schools where the district is hoping to achieve significant academic improvement. APS has provided a hiring bonus to teachers in those schools for about five years.
The district, which employs roughly 3,000 teachers, has about 120 teacher openings for next school year.
Duckett said that’s on par with previous years. She said some of the openings reflect new positions principals created in response to challenges that emerged during the pandemic.
In the coming weeks, the district will gain a better understanding of its hiring needs as current teachers decide whether or not to renew their contracts.
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