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Schools grapple with substitute teacher shortageTight job market and Obamacare fears aggravate a longtime problem.A shortage of substitute teachers has local school districts struggling (FILE PHOTO, THE MORNING )June 07, 2014|By Adam Clark, Of The Morning CallDuring the middle of a weekday last month, more than 100 Allen High School students were ushered into the gymnasium.There was no assembly that day or school pep rally. And this definitely <a href=http://www.alportico.net/page.php?sale=True-Religion-Coats-For-Women>True Religion Coats For Women</a> wasn't a game of dodge ball.Many of the students were supposed to be in class, but 25 teachers called in sick and the school could find only 19 substitutes, according to the district.The administration's best option was to place the students in a study hall with four teachers monitoring, district Chief Academic Officer Tina Belardi said. When the school went into a lockdown drill that day, the scene became chaotic."We were all told to hurry up to get to the top of the bleachers," sophomore Nathaniel Stuart told the school board last month. "Kids panicked and we didn't know what to do because there were three people yelling, screaming at the top of their lungs. We didn't have the personnel to properly communicate to us."Some local schools, like others across the state, are grappling with an old problem exacerbated by new circumstances. When a teacher calls in sick, it's no longer just a challenge to find a capable replacement. In some cases, it's becoming increasingly difficult to find a replacement at all."We are short-subbed on a regular basis," Easton Area School District teachers union President Jena Brodhead said. "It's awful."Allentown has been forced to occasionally send students to study halls, East Penn is struggling to find substitutes on Fridays, and even Saucon Valley, one of the area's smallest districts, is sometimes pulling teachers off regular assignments to cover classes that need substitutes.Some students, such as special education or English as a second language students, have missed time with their specialists because that teacher is acting as a substitute for a classroom teacher. Others, including some in Easton's middle schools, have had classes merged with another teacher's class for the period."There is definitely a blow to continuity in programming," Brodhead said.The root of the problem is twofold, teachers and administrators say.Though there's no concrete evidence, some believe the substitute teacher pool may be shrinking because fewer full-time teaching jobs have translated into fewer recent college graduates hoping to turn a couple years of subbing into a job offer.And certain school districts are capping the hours of the substitutes left in the pool in an effort to avoid paying <a href=http://www.avanttravel.com/page.php?sale=Tory-Burch-Woodbury-Commons>Tory Burch Handbag Sale</a> for heath care, which eventually will be required under the Affordable Care Act for employees working an average of 30 hours a week."Unfortunately, it's just a series of bad circumstances that is making what's always been somewhat of a challenge a much more significant challenge," said Jay Himes, executive director of the Pennsylvania Association of School Business Officials, which provides training for district business offices throughout the state.Fewer jobs, fewer subsWhen veteran teachers like Brodhead broke into teaching, the path to a full-time job was clear.After student teaching and earning a degree, a young educator often would work as a part-time substitute teacher and then as a long-term sub, getting a foot in the door at a particular school or school district."You used to do your time and get a contract out of it," Brodhead said. "Not anymore."Over the past five years, schools have cut hundreds of teaching jobs because of budget woes. Some teachers laid off from urban schools have filled the job openings at suburban schools. Others wait on recall lists and bide their time by taking long-term substitute positions.With fewer job opportunities and more qualified teachers to compete with, the number of Pennsylvania students pursuing a career in education has plummeted. From 2004 to 2013, the 14 schools in the Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education saw a 32 percent drop in the number of students enrolled as education majors.Some recent college graduates still are pursuing the "foot in the door" route, said Darrell Garber, dean of Kutztown University's College of Education. And it's still a viable method, said Joseph Roy, superintendent of Bethlehem Area School District."But it's not a guarantee," Roy said.At Easton Area, for example, a classroom teacher's average years of experience rose from 8.1 in 2007-08 to 13.4 in 2012-13, according to Department of Education data.While principals often <a href=http://www.avanttravel.com/page.php?sale=Tory-Burch-Louisa-Crossbody-Bag>Tory Burch Louisa Crossbody Bag</a> have favorite substitutes they want to hire for full-time positions, the competition is stiff, Roy said. When Bethlehem advertised several elementary school openings last year, it received more than 1,300 applications.Odds like that are driving more and more recent college grads to take full-time jobs at charter schools or in other states, Garber said."I have seen it more in the last couple years, particularly in Maryland," Garber said. "Maryland school districts are just growing by leaps and bounds. 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