So, I figured I should substitute from time to time, at least to keep in touch with the world of education, if not to earn a modest income that could help me pay for the exorbitant price of health insurance. I registered in a nearby county, sent them my résumé, three recommendations, college transcripts, took a 20-hour-long online training, then 3 more online trainings, went to (unpaid) orientation after being asked to print on my own paper and fill at home the 3 dozen pages of necessary forms, got fingerprinted (at my expense) and background-checked (at my expense), peed in a cup (that I paid for) to prove that I am not a crackhead, and now I can substitute teach. I counted that it did cost me $138 in cash and 26 hours of unpaid training to get there.
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| Ventriloquist and his Dummy |
I was impressed by that county's district offices, a stark contrast with the Taj Mahal of Palm Beach County. Apparently, here people are more important than shiny offices. I am looking forward to observing how a smaller district deals with things... I will of course follow all the rules that have been made clear to me during the initial training ("Don't touch students!"), a subsequent online training ("Don't touch students!"), and orientation ("Don't touch students!"). I hope students get the same kind of training and orientation ("Don't touch teachers!").
