Normally, schools hire substitutes to cover teacher absences. But there are so many teachers out with COVID-19 that the demand is much higher than usual. Pay for substitute teachers averaged $17 an hour in May 2020, according to federal figures. Assuming a substitute worked as much as possible — seven hours a day for 180 school days — that’s $21,420 a year, which is about one-third of the national average pay for full-time teachers. It is also below the poverty line for households with three people.
- Kudos for succinctly capturing many important teacher issues in a short space. Now, what is to be done? According to the Brookings Institute, half the adult employees in an average school are not teachers. How can this group help? Can some substitute? How about outreach to parents who want to direct school curriculum? Would it be useful to have some form of committee to prepare for the next disruption? It’s important to speak out about community issues. It’s also important to offer solutions. — PhilS
Response to end-of-life legislation letter
“Please let your Delaware legislators know how you stand on House Bill 140, The Ron Silverio/Heather Block End of Life Options Law. … We all determine how we live. We should also have the right to determine how we die. Why should we suffer in pain when death is inevitable? This bill gives us that choice.”
- HB 140 is not end-of-life legislation. It is legislation to end life. The scandal is that we are letting people suffer by not providing proper comfort care. We are acting foolishly and inhumanely by withholding pain medication for people terminally ill. Life is precious, and so is our time together. We need to stop thinking that life in tough times is a burden and start thinking how to bear one another’s burdens. We need to put real thought into comfort care and not treat people who have a few months to live the same in our addiction-avoidance protocols as normal. Our priority needs to be their quality of life. — David Anderson
