Mom applies to be a substitute at her children's school district, gets offered a position as a 5th grade teacher: 'I'm not a licensed teacher! I don't have a teaching degree.'

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Emmy Pratt • Writer and Editor
Jul 25, 2024 8:00 PM EDT

It's no secret that we're having a teacher shortage right now. They've been an undervalued and unappreciated profession for years, and with great teachers leaving the profession at a startling rate, some schools are getting desperate to fill teaching positions. 

This summer, a mom got an unexpected job offer from her children's school. She applied to be a substitute teacher but ended up getting an offer to be a full-time 5th-grade teacher. This woman does not have a teaching degree, nor is she licensed to teach in the state of Virginia. She has a bachelor's degree, and she previously worked as a substitute teacher and assisted in a kindergarten, but she has never had a classroom of her own. She was befuddled by the offer and shared her experiences with the educators of r/Teachers. The teachers in her area and around the world informed her this wasn't as unusual as she thought.

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  • 01
    Cheezburger Image 10378662144
    via Daniele La Rosa Messina

    Photo does not feature the real subject in the story

  • 02
    This is insane
    via u/BreadfruitWhich1285
  • 03
    The most insane phone call. I applied to be a substitute teacher with my local county since my kids are starting school. I got a call from a vice principal offering me a position as a 5th grade teacher. I'm not a licenced teacher! I don't have a teaching degree. I have a bachelor's and worked with kindergarten for 6 years but I am not a teacher!
    via u/BreadfruitWhich1285
  • 04
    This school must be very desperate for the VP to call and offer me this. Remind me why this is crazy. Northern virginia
    via u/BreadfruitWhich1285
  • 05
    . AlterngeusG 1 day ago Virginia - you don't need a teaching license to teach, just a Bachelor's and a clean background. You get paid the same as a regular licensed teacher with all the benefits, but you can only do it for 3 years. If you don't get your license in 3 years you can't keep working as a teacher. To get licensed, you have to take 6 specific college classes (your district might help pay for it) within those 3 years. I teach in NoVa on a provisional
    via u/AlterngeusG
  • 06
    license for STEM courses, I think it's a good way to get around the teacher shortage and get more educated individuals into teaching without having to go through underpaid student teaching or requiring a Master's in Ed. Feel free to PM me if you have any questions!
    via u/AlterngeusG
  • 07
    seandelevan. 23 hr. ago Yup. Hired and moved to teach middle school civics in VA 20 years ago. First day of PD before school starts the principal informed me I would be teaching a section of AP science. When I told him I'm not licensed in that, have never taught it, and haven't taken a science class since freshmen year of college he said "nobody cares. It's fine". I said "I care". I ended up finding another social studies teacher that was licensed to teach science and he reluctantly agreed to sw
    via u/seandelevan
  • 08
    Paramalia 22 hr. ago "No one cares." "I care." This little exchange is almost surreal. The madness.
    via u/Paramalia
  • 09
    Herodotus_Runs_Away 23 hr. ago University teacher prep programs in the US have been studied and they. apparently have no measurable benefits on student performance compared to emergency or alternative certification programs.
    via u/Herodotus_Runs_Away
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    That is to say, "teacher college" programs appear to be a waste of everyone's time and money (except, of course, the university faculty and staff of teacher college programs) and represent an arbitrary barrier to the profession that locks out talented people for no good reason.
    via u/Herodotus_Runs_Away
  • 11
    memeoldwoman · 23 hr. ago I believe it. I did an "accelerated" teaching program back in the 90s and was absolutely unprepared for the classroom. Substitute teaching prepared me for a classroom way more than my student teaching ever did.
    via u/memeoldwoman
  • 12
    • salamat_engot 1 day ago I got hired from a walk-in job fair. I pointed out multiple times that my classroom experience was a decade ago. When I say they hired me off the street I'm not joking.
    via u/salamat_engot
  • 13
    dragonfeet1 1 day ago There's a very mean petty part of me that is CACKLING. The admin did everything they could to drive teachers out of the classrooms with ridiculous PIPs and not handling behavioral issues, etc. In other words, by not doing *their* jobs.
    via u/dragonfeet1
  • 14
    I love hearing them struggle. I love the idea they're panicking about who's going to be teaching. I really love love love the idea that they themselves might have to step into a classroom to teach. Maybe they should have done the jobs we've been *begging* them to do and they wouldn't be in this fix.
    via u/dragonfeet1
  • 15
    seandelevan 23 hr. ago Our district has 19 year old certified teachers. Some of them teaching high school
    via u/seandelevan
  • 16
    velvetaloca 1 day ago While crazy, I don't think I'd turn down a position like this, as it would keep me working. Yeah, it would be a bit daunting at first, but I'd figure it out.
    via u/velvetaloca
  • 17
    subjuggulator. 22 hr. ago Six years of kindergarten? Trust me, you're more than qualified to babysit teach today's 5th graders! /s
    via u/subjuggulator
  • 18
    brandoesco 1 day ago This is exactly how I became a teacher... I was applying for teacher assistant/sub positions except I had only 1 year experience at a daycare. Had 3 interviews within 24 hours- all for classroom teacher positions. Been teaching ever since (8 years now) NC
    via u/brandoesco
  • 19
    Crimzin1997 1 day ago That happened to me and I have a bachelors in English.
    via u/Crimzin1997

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virginia jobs teach job kids 5th grade teaching job hunt new job teachers job applications teacher sub job interview mom substitute job application
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