[MisterMagic]

I am a teacher with several years of full time contracted classroom experience. I had applied to different positions with five school districts within one county and each of them offered me only a building substitute position. Why do these districts do this instead of hiring me as a building substitute? I can't afford to take a lower paying job like this.

[cruxian]

I'm a touch confused because we don't have those positions in my district. They're hiring you to be a building substitute instead of....a classroom job?

[Gromit]

I’m confused... they offered you a building substitute position instead of hiring you as a building substitute?

If you mean hiring you as a sub instead of a classroom job, maybe they don’t have a classroom job they like you for but they have a sub job open? I have a friend who was a building sub; she liked it because she was doing something different every day but guaranteed a job unlike a sub grabbing jobs off Aesop or the like.

[TAOEP]

I'm a little confused. But it sounds as if they have offered you a building substitute position. Correct?

In my district, a couple of the largest schools had a permanent sub who worked daily in that building. It would not have been the same pay as a classroom teacher, I believe. However, it would have been at least as much as a long-term sub.

Obviously, you are free to turn down any job that doesn't seem like a good fit. However, from the district's point of view they have established such a position because having a permanent sub available means that their students have much more stability and continuity in their education. A sub who works daily in the same school will know the curriculum, be familiar with procedures and standards, eventually even get to know individual students.

In my experience, it was common for a permanent sub to be hired for a full time teaching position when one opened up. Assuming that the sub did a good job, the principal (or whoever does the hiring there) would already know the sub and likely have observed her/him in the classroom. It can be a good path to a fulltime position, if you can afford the temporary pay cut.

Before deciding, you might want to talk to the district about how often their permanent subs are hired for traditional teaching positions.