With workers in a variety of professions and in a variety of different American cities taking to the streets and striking in the name of better pay and benefits, a number of different industries are experiencing worker shortages.
And in communities all over the country, one of the biggest shortfalls in the workforce is found in the education sector.
With full-time teachers leaving the profession due to stresses that include, but are not limited to, long hours and low pay, the pools of available substitute teachers are also starting to run dry, adding another level to teachers’ frustrations.
The scarcity of substitutes is reaching critical levels in some areas, and in many places, it’s tied to the even lower than usual payscale for substitutes, who don’t make as much as full-time teachers, who in many cases already feel underpaid.
“The substitute crisis, I believe, has reached crisis proportions, because there's greater demand than supply,” Lisa Thomas, a substitute teacher in Connecticut and chair of the Coventry Town Council, told CBS News. “The demand is high because we don't have the teachers we need.”
Increasing teacher pay, at least at public schools, usually is handled by an increase in the community’s taxes, which can be a tough sell to the general public in some places.
In her interview with CBS News, Thomas revealed that four different referendums were needed to raise teacher pay in one town where she teaches. Over 20 full-time staff positions in the local school district had been cut by the time the pay raise finally went through.
And until substitutes are paid what can be considered a living wage, the shortage may continue to worsen.
“Would you babysit 30 people for 100 bucks for eight hours? Yeah, no, not in a million years,” Heather Clark, a school board chair in New Hampshire told CBS News. “But you know, it is what it is. I don't think we're ever gonna get to pay them what they're worth.”