New York District Offers Triple Substitute Pay for Laid Off Teachers
File this one under “Know Your Contract.”
The school district collective bargaining agreement in Saugerties, New York, contains a thirty-year-old provision that puts laid-off teachers on a preferred list for substituting. It also specifies the per-diem salary to be paid – 1/180th of the minimum full-time teacher salary, which last year was $49,113.
It means that any laid-off Saugerties teacher who substitutes in his or her certification area (elementary school for elementary teachers, etc.) will receive $272.85 per day. That’s good for them, but not so good for the district, which normally pays substitutes $85-$95 per day.
The reason the discrepancy hasn’t been an issue before is because the district hasn’t laid off teachers in 30 years. “It’s really uncharted territory,” said school district Superintendent Seth Turner.
This sort of arrangement is not unheard of. In Riverside, California, a laid-off tenured teacher who works consistently as a sub receives the same daily pay as if he or she were still full-time.
