How to hire a substitute school teacher

How to hire a substitute school teacher, step by step

Here's a step-by-step substitute school teacher hiring guide:

• Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
• Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
• Step 3: Make a budget
• Step 4: Write a substitute school teacher job description
• Step 5: Post your job
• Step 6: Interview candidates
• Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new substitute school teacher
• Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

What does a substitute school teacher do?

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1. Identify your hiring needs

   Before you start hiring a substitute school teacher, identify what type of worker you actually need. Certain positions might call for a full-time employee, while others can be done by a part-time worker or contractor.

   Determine employee vs contractor status

   Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

   Yes

   No

   You should also consider the ideal background you'd like them a substitute school teacher to have before you start to hire. For example, what industry or field would you like them to have experience in, what level of seniority or education does the job require, and how much it'll cost to hire a substitute school teacher that fits the bill.

   Here's a comparison of substitute school teacher salaries for various roles:

   Type of Substitute School Teacher	Description	Hourly rate
   Substitute School Teacher		$11-22
   Teacher/Tutor	A teacher/tutor is primarily in charge of facilitating discussions and other learning activities for students. Their duties typically revolve around developing lesson plans and teaching materials, assessing the progress of students through quizzes and examinations, assisting students in areas they find difficult, and helping them develop their interpersonal and intrapersonal skills... Show more	$12-33
   Teacher Aide	Teacher aides help lead teachers in managing the classroom. They assist teachers in conducting classroom sessions by setting up the classroom in advance, sourcing materials needed for class activities, helping in presentations, and guiding students during class activities... Show more	$11-17

   Show more

2. Create an ideal candidate profile

   Common skills:

   • Classroom Management
   • Student Learning
   • Classroom Environment
   • Substitute Teaching
   • After-School Program
   • Math
   • Public Schools
   • Grades K-12
   • IEP
   • Kids
   • K-8
   • Social Studies
   • Instructional Materials
   • Classroom Control

   Check all skills

   Responsibilities:

   • Lead debates with advance students on topics including globalization, economics, and political history.
   • Substitute for Pre-K and elementary classes.
   • Follow IEP and teacher's lesson plans.
   • Participate in student SST and IEP meetings.
   • Integrate math skills with literature and writing.
   • Present the needs of children and teachers to management.

   More substitute school teacher duties

3. Make a budget

   Including a salary range in your substitute school teacher job description is one of the best ways to attract top talent. A substitute school teacher can vary based on:

   • Location. For example, substitute school teachers' average salary in south carolina is 55% less than in alaska.
   • Seniority. Entry-level substitute school teachers 51% less than senior-level substitute school teachers.
   • Certifications. A substitute school teacher with certifications usually earns a higher salary.
   • Company. Working for an established firm or a new start-up company can make a big difference in a substitute school teacher's salary.

   Average substitute school teacher salary

   $15.97hourly

   $33,215 yearly

   ---

   Entry-level substitute school teacher salary

   $23,000 yearly salary

   Updated December 17, 2025

   Average substitute school teacher salary by state

   Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
   1	California	$47,473	$23
   2	Oregon	$46,089	$22
   3	Arizona	$35,410	$17
   4	Minnesota	$32,084	$15
   5	New York	$31,843	$15
   6	New Mexico	$28,930	$14
   7	District of Columbia	$28,202	$14
   8	Colorado	$28,119	$14
   9	Virginia	$27,778	$13
   10	Missouri	$26,782	$13
   11	Connecticut	$26,150	$13
   12	Pennsylvania	$25,964	$12
   13	New Jersey	$25,122	$12
   14	Indiana	$23,534	$11
   15	Florida	$22,980	$11
   16	Delaware	$22,727	$11

   Average substitute school teacher salary by company

   Company

   Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
   1	Oxnard Union High School District	$58,588	$28.17	11
   2	Sidwell Friends School	$56,519	$27.17	4
   3	Contra Costa College	$55,220	$26.55	5
   4	Boston Public Schools	$54,575	$26.24	49
   5	City of Baltimore	$52,231	$25.11
   6	Grossmont College	$51,198	$24.61	11
   7	Oaks Christian School	$50,623	$24.34
   8	State College of Florida	$49,933	$24.01	2
   9	Sandy Spring Friends School	$48,548	$23.34	4
   10	Santa Rosa City Schools	$46,197	$22.21
   11	Catapult Learning	$46,176	$22.20
   12	Flour Bluff ISD	$45,520	$21.88	6
   13	Erie 2-Chautauqua-Cattaraugus BOCES	$43,727	$21.02	9
   14	Robbinsdale Area Schools	$43,347	$20.84	38
   15	Catholic Diocese of Sacramento	$43,067	$20.71	12
   16	North Clackamas Christian Schl	$43,063	$20.70	6
   17	Huntington Beach Union High School District	$42,174	$20.28	5
   18	Legacy Traditional Schools	$42,044	$20.21	41
   19	Pasadena Unified School District	$42,031	$20.21	8
   20	Alvord Unified School District	$41,988	$20.19	3

4. Writing a substitute school teacher job description

   A job description for a substitute school teacher role includes a summary of the job's main responsibilities, required skills, and preferred background experience. Including a salary range can also go a long way in attracting more candidates to apply, and showing the first name of the hiring manager can also make applicants more comfortable. As an example, here's a substitute school teacher job description:

   Substitute school teacher job description example

   468 West 143 Street

   NY, NY 10031

   Position

   Catholic School Full-time Grade 2 Teacher; Three Month Maternity Leave Replacement; September through the end of November, 2022; Start Date: September 1, 2022

   School

   Where faith and knowledge meet: Our Lady of Lourdes School, an elementary school serving students in North Manhattan and District 6 since 1912, offers a rigorous academic curriculum and foundation in faith to foster well-rounded individuals. We offer an exceptional enrichment program: individualized instruction in the arts, dance, language, music, faith and religion, science/STEM, and athletics. Fostering cultural appreciation prepares our students to lead successful lives in high school and beyond. We embrace students of varied abilities with diverse ethnic, linguistic, and religious backgrounds.

   • Fulfills the mission of the Catholic Church by planning, guiding and evaluating the learning process of the students.

   • Will be expected to provide the appropriate learning atmosphere and activities designed to maximize student competencies and skills for spiritual, intellectual, emotional, physical and social and growth toward a successful future.

   • Prepares ELA, Math, Religion, Science, and Social Studies lessons for Grade 2.

   • Implements the curricula by responsibly using the Archdiocesan Guidelines for Catechesis and Academics and the New York State Common Core Standards.

   • Enthusiastically facilitates learning by initiating, directing, and evaluating the learning process.

   • Encourages self-initiated learning and self-direction in students.

   • Promotes diverse approaches to problem solving

   • Demonstrates use of technology to enhance student performance.

   The essential functions of teaching include, but are not limited to preparation of all daily lessons, daily instruction of all assigned classes of students; classroom management and discipline of all assigned classes of students; diagnosis and evaluation of students' mastery of learning or lack thereof; preparation of remedial lessons where necessary; reporting student progress to parents as needed and during school-scheduled conferences; meeting with parents upon their request; attendance and participation at meetings pertaining to the professional planning and evaluation of the total school program. In addition to the fall Parent/Teacher Conferences, parents are encouraged to communicate with teacher(s). Additionally, Progress Reports and Report Cards are issued for the first quarter.

   Prospective teacher candidates are required to have:

   • A minimum of a BACHELOR'S DEGREE in Education or a related subject area from an accredited college or university.
   • Teaching experience

   A successfully cleared background check.

   Preference is given to:

   • Candidates with New York State Certification in Education
   • Candidates with a Master's Degree in Education or a related field of study

   Teaching experience

   
   
   Job Posted by ApplicantPro
   

   Copy this example

   

5. Post your job

   To find the right substitute school teacher for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:

   • Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
   • Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with substitute school teachers they would recommend.
   • Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit substitute school teachers who meet your education requirements.
   • Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.

   Post your job online:

   • Post your substitute school teacher job on Zippia to find and attract quality substitute school teacher candidates.
   • Use niche websites such as k12jobspot, learn4good, serious teachers, teachingjobs.com.
   • Post a job on free websites.

6. Interview candidates

   To successfully recruit substitute school teachers, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.

   You should also ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match the ideal candidate profile you developed earlier. Candidates good enough for the next step can complete the technical interview.

   The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.

7. Send a job offer and onboard your new substitute school teacher

   Once you've found the substitute school teacher candidate you'd like to hire, it's time to write an offer letter. This should include an explicit job offer that includes the salary and the details of any other perks. Qualified candidates might be looking at multiple positions, so your offer must be competitive if you like the candidate. Also, be prepared for a negotiation stage, as candidates may way want to tweak the details of your initial offer. Once you've settled on these details, you can draft a contract to formalize your agreement.

   It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.

   To prepare for the new substitute school teacher first day, you should share an onboarding schedule with them that covers their first period on the job. You should also quickly complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Finally, Human Resources must ensure a new employee file is created for internal record keeping.

8. Go through the hiring process checklist

   • Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
   • Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
   • Define job responsibilities and requirements
   • Establish budget and timeline
   • Determine hiring decision makers for the role
   • Write job description
   • Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
   • Promote the job internally
   • Process applications through applicant tracking system
   • Review resumes and cover letters
   • Shortlist candidates for screening
   • Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
   • Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
   • Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
   • Conduct background checks on top candidates
   • Check references of top candidates
   • Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
   • Extend offer to top candidate(s)
   • Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
   • Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
   • Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
   • Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)

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How much does it cost to hire a substitute school teacher?