Education Funding

Tulsa Brings in Volunteers To Replace Substitutes

By Michelle Galley — January 22, 2003 3 min read
  • Save to favorites
  • Print

The cash-strapped Tulsa school district is replacing substitute teachers with volunteers from its northeastern Oklahoma community.

The initiative started last month, after the 43,000-student district got word from the state that its $250 million budget would be cut by $17 million. Superintendent David E. Sawyer realized he could save $800,000 by the end of the school year if the district stopped hiring substitute teachers, said John Hammill, a spokesman for the district.

Since then, the district has recruited 230 volunteers, and is regularly holding one-hour training sessions to teach the novices basic classroom-management techniques.

Mary Howell, the executive director of personnel, said she teaches the volunteer recruits such techniques as how to stand at the door and greet students, where to find the right questions to ask and the answers to them, and how to maintain discipline.

Last week, Ms. Howell trained staff members from a local hospital, workers at an oil company, members of a church community, and employees at the local sheriff’s office.

“Some people are a little apprehensive,” she said. “But they want to serve.”

State law requires substitute teachers to have earned a high school diploma. And the Tulsa district makes them pass a criminal-background check. Moreover, the state prohibits them from serving in the same district for more than 70 days a year.

The district hopes to enlist as many as 3,000 volunteers to meet the typical monthly demand. About 750 substitutes were in the paid pool, said Ms. Howell.

Jeopardizing Learning?

Substitute teachers are the first workers to go in many districts facing budget shortfalls, according to Shirley Kirsten, the president of the National Substitute Teachers Alliance, based in Fresno, Calif.

“We need to have a good substitute-teacher workforce that we can depend on and that is trained, capable, and retained,” she said. Using volunteers, she added, “is sort of like saying that substitute teachers are worthless.”

The effort in Oklahoma has not generated enough volunteers to cover every classroom that needs a substitute, said Carolyn Crowder, the president of the Oklahoma Education Association, an affiliate of the National Education Association.

“Basically, when teachers are gone, other teachers are having to cover the absence,” Ms. Crowder said. “When you have a teacher trying to cover two classes, the learning is being jeopardized.”

Still, Tulsa has seen an outpouring of support in response to its money problems, according to officials there. As part of his inaugural celebration, Gov. Brad Henry, a Democrat, held a pancake breakfast to raise money for the district.

And last fall, Henry Zarrow, a Tulsa philanthropist who made his money through the city’s once-booming oil business, pro-mised to match contributions to the district up to $1 million. Since then, the district has received $530,000 in donations that Mr. Zarrow will match.

That call for contributions was one factor that changed Dixie Lee’s mind about volunteering. As a paid substitute for five years, Ms. Lee, 69, lost her income.

The money was only one issue. “I felt that it was almost a put-down to subs,” said Ms. Lee, a retired oil-company worker. “Even though teaching would not have been my lifelong mission,” she said, “I really did enjoy and get a lot out of being in the classroom with the kids.”

It was for those reasons that she initially decided that she would not volunteer to substitute. But many community members started rallying around the schools. She said she was impressed by Mr. Zarrow’s contribution and by the volunteers who had come forward to substitute.

“I felt that yes, I needed to support that,” she said. “But more importantly, I want to see the kids again.”

Related Tags:

Events

Artificial Intelligence K-12 Essentials Forum How AI Use Is Expanding in K-12 Schools
Join this free virtual event to explore how AI technology is—and is not—improving K-12 teaching and learning.
Federal Webinar The Trump Budget and Schools: Subscriber Exclusive Quick Hit
EdWeek subscribers, join this 30-minute webinar to find out what the latest federal policy changes mean for K-12 education.
This content is provided by our sponsor. It is not written by and does not necessarily reflect the views of Education Week's editorial staff.
Sponsor
Curriculum Webinar
End Student Boredom: K-12 Publisher's Guide to 70% Engagement Boost
Calling all K-12 Publishers! Student engagement flatlining? Learn how to boost it by up to 70%.
Content provided by KITABOO

EdWeek Top School Jobs

Teacher Jobs
Search over ten thousand teaching jobs nationwide — elementary, middle, high school and more.
View Jobs
Principal Jobs
Find hundreds of jobs for principals, assistant principals, and other school leadership roles.
View Jobs
Administrator Jobs
Over a thousand district-level jobs: superintendents, directors, more.
View Jobs
Support Staff Jobs
Search thousands of jobs, from paraprofessionals to counselors and more.
View Jobs

Read Next

Education Funding How Trump’s School Priorities Will Shape New Ed. Dept. Grants
The Department of Education on Tuesday announced the priorities it will use to award competitive grants.
6 min read
High school student teachers read a book to a preschool class.
High school student teachers read a book to a preschool class. Evidence-based literacy instruction will be one priority for the Trump administration as it awards competitive education grants. The priorities in those competitions will be school choice and "returning education to the states."
Allison Shelley for All4Ed
Education Funding Kennedy Assures Congress Funding for Head Start Will Not Be Cut
Kennedy said the administration would “emphasize healthy eating in Head Start."
1 min read
Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appears before a Senate committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions hearing at the U.S. Capitol on May 14, 2025, in Washington.
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. appears before the Senate's Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee at the U.S. Capitol on May 14, 2025. The secretary told lawmakers the Trump administration wouldn't cut funding for Head Start after an early budget draft proposed eliminating the early childhood program for children from low-income families.
John McDonnell/AP
Education Funding Billions for Schools Are in Limbo as Trump Admin. Denies State Funding Requests
Chaos and confusion continue to reign as states scramble to spend the last of their COVID relief funds under new deadlines.
8 min read
Illustration of a man pushing half of clock and half of a money coin forward on a red arrow
iStock/Getty Images Plus
Education Funding The Big Questions About Trump's K-12 Budget Proposal, Answered
Trump is proposing to cut billions of dollars in K-12 investments, consolidate grant programs, and potentially rejigger special education law.
13 min read
An aerial view of a maze made up of 100 dollar bills with two clay figures. One looks like Trump with blond hair and in a blue suit with a red tie and he's waving to another white business man in a suit walking away from him.
iStock/Getty