Montgomery County, Maryland’s, school system has agreed to raise the rates paid to substitute teachers while continuing to hold regular job fairs to fill vacancies.
As a result of the memorandum of understanding (MOU) signed by Montgomery County Public Schools and representatives with the Montgomery County Education Association, hourly rates for short-term substitutes who hold state teaching certificates will get an increase of 7.3% resulting in an hourly rate of $21.43 an hour.
Short-term substitutes who don’t hold the state certification will get $19.71 an hour, an increase of 5%.
Long-term substitutes with certification will see a bump of 8% in pay, while those who don’t have the state certification will get a 6% pay increase.
The MOU includes other incentives, including a provision for paying short-term substitutes an additional $60 stipend on days when demand for substitutes is especially high, such as days before or after a holiday.
The agreement will remain in effect until the end of the academic year.
In a briefing with the Montgomery County Council’s Education and Culture Committee, Dr. Helen Nixon, chief of Human Resources and Development, told council members that the school system is holding biweekly job fairs for substitute teachers.
“Since the start of the year, we have processed 1,100 applications. And we have hired over 500 substitute teachers,” Nixon said.
Nixon said the newly signed agreement with the teacher’s union would help to “create a cadre of substitute teachers that would be deployed to schools that have the most intense need for substitute coverage.”
(EDITOR’S NOTE Jan. 20, 2022 — This story has been edited to reflect the correct new hourly wages.)
