Substitute teachers deserve more respect

To the Times:

You can’t find substitute teachers anywhere today. An acute shortage exists, especially in this area. I’ve gotten several invites from high school principals to lure me out of mothballs, away from my learning center which generally is in full mode after 3 p.m., leaving my day relatively free to sub. No way, baby. It just ain’t in the cards. You see, I fear the deserved retribution the Big Superintendent Above will reek upon me based on the treatment my crew and I extended to some subs when attending junior high and high school in the old neighborhood during the late forties and early fifties.

One old and fragile old maid was called in to sub for a stern, old-world Dutchman who taught geometry. She threatened to jump from the third story window of the math room, and Crazy Leon opened it wide enough to accommodate her threat. Finally,, the burly disciplinarian entered the class, and she pointed out to him the usual suspects, including yours truly.

My granddaughter, a senior at the University of Florida, babysits for a couple, both professors, and she makes in four hours what the per diem pay for subs make around here from 7:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. There is still truth in the saying that money talks and bullcrap walks.

There would be no shortage even in these tough times if a sub’s pay were somewhat commensurate with the degrees they hold. No, I’ll give all the time in the world to subs, especially those who are hoping to some day break into the profession by strutting their stuff. I’m sure that the treatment of substitute teachers today has improved considerably, and I’ll continue to look back on my 33 years in the classroom as a total joy to behold.

Sam Alfonsi, Broomall, Moorestown, Naples, FL, Diamond Beach