New Law Will Allow Non-Teaching Staff to Substitute at Michigan Schools

For the rest of the academic year, Michigan schools will be allowed to use non-teaching staff as substitute teachers thanks to a new bill that Gov. Gretchen Whitmer signed last week.

Before you get too worked up about this new law, keep in mind, it's only temporary. The law was designed to address the massive shortage that the state's been facing due to the pandemic.

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Gov. Gretchen Whitmer:

Allowing schools to employ school staff that students know as substitute teachers will help keep school doors open and students learning in the classroom the rest of the school year. I am committed to working with the Legislature to develop high-quality solutions to address these staff shortages long-term so that we can ensure that every child is able to access a quality education.

According to Fox 2 Detroit, the new bill allows secretaries, paraprofessionals and other school employees without a teaching certificate — such as library aides, bus drivers, cooks and office workers — to work as subs as long as they have a high school diploma or equivalency certificate.

Prior to the signing of this new bill, substitute teachers would (generally) need to have an associate's degree or a minimum of 60 semester hours of college credit.

I don't know if this is the best solution but it seems for the time being, it's the only solution. However, there is the issue of taking employees away from their qualified positions and placing them where they're not qualified. This usually puts an employee in a situation where they're overworked and their priority position suffers a bit.