Is it possible that substitute teachers get full time jobs? I am certified in Special Ed and I am trying to get a full time job in a district I am subbing in. I have been doing this for a month now. Last year, I had my own classroom in a different district. Decided to leave because it was it was too far, the people I worked with were abusive and I wanted to further my education. I could not get anywhere professionally if I stayed over there. I want to get a reading specialist and blind visually impaired teaching endorsement. I have been told subs do get hired in that district if they do a good job. Also, the schools I have subbed at (been doing this for a month) know I am certified in SPED. I even had principals from random schools call me to sub. Also, administrators know I am certified. (One of them emails me every week to see if I want this sped job.) She is trying to help me. Teachers have even said they will vouch for me. Also, the supervisors of special education have more of a say than administration when it comes to hiring. I emailed them and tried calling them, but no response. What do I do?
Maybe I'm reading your post wrong. You are a certified teacher currently subbing in SPED, but you want to find a permanent full time position? It sounds like you have already been offered a job. Is that correct, but it's just not a job you want?
Anyway, in my district, it is very common for teachers to sub to get their foot in the door, and they are offered a permanent spot when one is open. I think you'll get what you want soon if you continue to do a great job with a great attitude and you let admins know your job goals.
I'm not subbing in SPED. I got a job last year in another district. I took it, but left because I did not want to be in that district in the first place. I left because of a horrible experience and I want to further pursue educational goals.
Be patient, it’ll happen as YayaSub said. Believe me, no one is beating down the door to get a Sped job ( and I say that as a former Sped teacher telling it like it is, no snark intended).
Keep doing what you’re doing, and you WILL get job offers. It may be that there’s no openings right now, or that the district is dragging its feet, hoping to save $$ by using subs instead of a full time teacher. Districts are notorious for that.
Good luck in your job search, and keep your chin up and your attitude positive. A door will open soon.
It doesn’t happen in any of the districts I work in, another myth of this job. But others say it depends on where you are. If you have Sped credentials, you should be able to get hired pretty easily for next year.
I also plan on applying to other districts too near central Maryland area. I have heard of stories of teachers in the district I work in that started out as substitutes get full time jobs.
The districts I live near all hire their subs - if they're worth hiring. Sped positions are always hiring, but not so much this time of year. But only a month isn't very long.
I was hired for my teaching job by just applying off of edjoin. I wouldn't rely on getting hired somewhere, just because you sub there. Maybe if they are desperate for teachers. I think they like to wait and see who applies. That's my experience.
SubMan- how long have you been looking for a full time position? What are you certified in and in what state? I live in rural Maryland.
I'm in Pennsylvania. This time around it's been 7 years; I was furloughed in 2012. After I graduated it was three years before I landed a contract. I'm certified in Elementary and Reading. Many districts near me want special ed with something else.
Have you considered a move to "the big city?" There doesn't seem to be many jobs in rural districts.
I live in a big city and ironically I was getting the majority of my interviews in smaller cities that would have required me to move or make a serious commute.
Maybe they hire subs in small districts but in a large city I find it competitive to just get the good jobs, or steady work. They don’t really know or care who you are where I work.
Where I live at least, there isn't a route to go from subbing to teaching. I wish it were as simple as "be a sub for 5 years and earn your teaching certificate," but it's not, and it makes me really annoyed when people (always always every single day) ask me if I'm going to become a fulltime teacher one day, as if one path naturally leads into another. In reality, I'd have to register at a teaching school and take years of classes, at my own expense somehow, and then spend more of my time being some teacher's assistant, seemingly for free, during the hours I typically work as a substitute; so effectively I'd have to quit my job to make that part work, which just makes the assumption that subbing leads to teaching even more laughable. I know it varies in other states, because my friend in Texas had to go through waaaaay less to start teaching. I'm not even jealous of him though, because every fulltime instructor I've spoken to in private has seemed absolutely miserable.
But don't lose hope. I know you're trying to break into special ed, so this part might interest you:
Having said all that other stuff, there are a few subs I know who began as subs and became fulltime teachers as a direct result of teaching. However, they are ALL special ed teachers, and it's literally just because the department is so desperate that they let subs complete that teaching-assistant part of the job as interns while working for them at docked pay with really difficult students until they get worn out and quit. Seen it like five times now. They tried to ask me to do the same thing for them and I gave it a hard pass because I knew I wasn't cut out for that. However, yeah, in that case at least, it can work out. But for just a regular typical teaching job? Unlikely. I've actually heard the opposite from a lot of people, that schools often are so hard-up for substitutes that they don't even hire from that pool because they don't want to lower the sub count more than it already is. So you get complete outsiders with no classroom experience coming in and getting these jobs that subs who've worked in the district every day for years would kill to have, but can't get because the barriers to entry basically require you to quit your job and be someone's lapdog for a year.
Since you're willing to do special ed, you will definitely get offers. I'm not even interested in the department and I got 2 last year, and 1 the year before that. They are actually desperate here; I'm not trying to be a jerk or anything, just telling it like it is. Every year they lose people and have nobody to replace them with. It's a pretty sad affair.
Thanks Aillya. I hear in the district I want to work at it depends on a variety of factors. (Content Area, if the sub is worth hiring etc.) and some have told me that there are subs that should of been hired, but they are not. I get mixed reviews. I actually know a few administrators that started as subs and worked their way up in that district. I was shocked at where they get their start. I love Special Ed. I do not want to teach anything else. I am looking into other counties too.
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11-08-2019, 11:45 AM
