In Arkansas, Substitute Teachers Cost More During Strike Than for Sick Out

An article in arkansasonline.com states that the Little Rock, Arkansas school district must pay more for substitute teachers to replace those who go on strike than for substitutes for teachers who call in sick.

Everyone denies the massive Monday sickout was a so-called job action or strike, which would have allowed the district to pay substitute teachers a higher pay rate than for substituting for sick teachers.  Is this a subtle tool to encourage administration to capitulate to keep strikes, or job actions shorter?

Cynthia Howell has the story on arkansasonline.com.

On Monday, 378 teachers called in sick, causing the district to call in substitutes from its WillSub System vendor and the Arkansas Department of Education, as well as pull in district employees from other job assignments to cover classrooms.

The Little Rock district has about 1,800 teachers. A typical number of teacher absences in February is about 95 a day, said Jordan Eason, the district’s employee relations specialist.