Importance of School Staffing Agencies in Sourcing for Substitute Teachers
The education sector has evolved over the years with new disciplines on the rising. This has prompted the need to use school staffing agencies to source for skilled and experienced teachers who can be a perfect sub in case of shortage. As a principal or a school administrator, it is paramount that you find replacements to fill in the gap left by one or more teacher. However, this isn’t always an easy task since it involves thorough profiling and detailed assessments.
Securing a substitute teacher is often a time-consuming process, yet it is a prerequisite for smooth school operations. Initially, schools used to secure substitute teachers through the districts but considering how minimal schools budget are, it has become increasingly impossible to find quality substitute teachers. Currently, while there is an evident shortage of substitute teachers, most schools are looking for school staffing agencies to remedy the situation.
Education staffing agencies are becoming more popular in solving substitute teachers shortage. In addition, they also help to reduce the recruitment pressure off the school districts. There are various staffing agencies offering different services. While you can get a staffing agency that simply recruits teachers, there are those that focus on other areas of the economy. They include nurses, casual workers, lawyers, doctors among others. The primary work of these agencies is to match qualified employees with employers.
With the ability and capacity to align hiring and recruitment process, these agencies can conduct staffing to fit inside budget plan of your school and deliver a vast pool of candidates to choose from. Additionally, teachers who pass through school staffing agencies are more likely to get regular subbing opportunities across multiple school districts. Although the hiring process for a substitute teacher is similar to both school districts and educational staffing agencies, the later is believed to deliver timely substitutes who’ve been thoroughly vetted.
One major challenge with school staffing agencies is the fill rates discrepancies. However, with time, the staffing agencies will find uniform ways of hiring subs and be able to meet the demand that schools need.
Looking at the workforce in public schools, you’d understand the importance of staffing agencies. They are tasked to do background checks and interviews on potential subs to fill up spaces like guidance and counselors, speech therapists, nurses among others. In fact, these careers make up 50% of the workforce in public schools while the rest is made up of teachers.