(Illinois News Network) -- A new Illinois law will soon allow schools to use recruitment agencies to find substitute teachers.
The program opens the door for school districts to work with temp agencies to supplement the search for substitute teachers for elementary and secondary schools. It will be available Jan. 1.
Most school administrators will pull from the surrounding school districts to fill an open substitute teaching position, Ford said. But when that pool of teachers is tapped out, they are stuck. The new law will change that by allowing schools to pull from a larger group.
Rural schools especially are struggling to find teachers for “more technical areas” like sciences or foreign languages, said Ben Schwarm, the deputy executive director of the Illinois Association of School Boards.
A 2018 survey from the Illinois Board of Education showed nearly 3,000 unfilled positions – including administrators, educators, and other school personnel – across the state.