Plenty of Kansas school districts are in need of qualified substitute teachers.
We’re getting a bit desperate.
The State Board of Education had already sought in January to help struggling Kansas school districts staff up by allowing anyone over 18 and with a high school diploma to apply for a temporary emergency substitute license, valid for this school year only.
We gritted our teeth but accepted it as necessary.
Retired teachers are the ideal substitutes. They’ve been in the classrooms, they know what to expect — and what’s expected of them — and they know how to reach students.
Yet, there’s an obstacle keeping many retirees from returning to the classroom. Under state law, school retirees who receive benefits from the Kansas Public Employees Retirement System may generally return to work in schools, but a few provisions in state law make it harder for them to do so, KPERS director Alan Conroy told the board.