be there so why are they regarded with such disdain?
I don’t believe that all teachers have this feeling. There may be some criticism of the fact that often a substitute can not be found who is qualified in a particular area, but in the end, substitutes have an extremely difficult job because of the transitory nature of their contact with the class (less clout because the kids know that he/she will not be there for an extended time). I think that many of us appreciate the service that they perform and recognize the limitations under which they labor. I wouldn’t want to do the job and I certainly feel that they are underpaid, and perhaps the contribution which they make is not properly valued by the system. With some classes, just keeping the situation from deteriorating into chaos and pandemonium is a real challenge, and the substitute has to do this without many of the resources that the regular teacher has at his disposal. Perhaps they do merit greater recognition and a greater demonstration of gratitude for what they do. Richard Lee =
