There's No Substitute

Abstract

Recent scholarly attention has turned to the imbalance of work time in the United States. Although some workers experience overwork, others remain underemployed, often in contingent employment. School districts across the United States are experiencing shortages of substitute teachers, while regular teachers experience long workdays and significant work-family conflict. Without the ability to recruit more substitutes, many districts propose solutions to classroom coverage problems that involve a time transfer from a group of substitute teachers to regular teachers through reducing the districts' reliance on substitutes and extending teachers' work hours. Although substitutes who were interviewed expressed a desire for more teaching hours, they were constrained by their need to make a living either through multiple jobs or finding a higher wage job. This case study demonstrates the process through which a time transfer is proposed, contested by teachers, and ultimately adopted without challenging the disparities between these groups of teachers.