Missouri could lower the requirements to become a K-12 substitute teacher.
To help alleviate a substitute shortage, State Representative Ed Lewis is proposing to reduce the required college credit hours from 60 to 36. Lewis, of northern Missouri’s Moberly, has been a teacher for more than 30 years. During a House education committee hearing on Tuesday, he says his bill would also make permanent a 20-hour online training course for substitute teacher candidates.
Next month, the Missouri Board of Education plans to consider whether to make permanent the online training course option for subs. Last year, the board temporarily approved the training alternative to help with a teacher shortage during the pandemic.
During a House education committee hearing, Representative Paula Brown, a retired teacher from the St. Louis area, asks Lewis to put an age requirement in the bill.
Lewis has added a 20-year age minimum for all potential substitutes. The committee has not yet voted on the bill.
