The Illinois State Board reports there are over 3,500 teaching positions unfilled in the state.
CARRIER MILLS, IL (WSIL) -Â The Illinois State Board reports there are over 3,500 teaching positions unfilled in the state.
Bryce Jerrell is the superintendent of the Carrier Mills School District and the Principal of the village's high school. He says filling the teaching positions has been harder over the years due to factors like pay.
"So I think it is a difficult job, and I think a lot of people at this time are not going into teaching," Jerrell says.
Jerrell says they used other methods to be fully staffed this year by working with SIU.
"They placed a student teacher with us at the beginning of the year," Jerrell says. "And she's gonna have a lot of support. She's doing a really great job right now, so we are excited. And hopefully we can hire her in December when she graduates to finish the year."
Jerrell says finding substitute teachers was hard this year. He says some people didn't answer.
"We started calling everybody on the list, and I think we only narrowed it down to four teachers," Jerrell says.
The Illinois State Board of Education says a substitute teacher can fill a vacancy left by a teacher -- for 90 days -- or until the end of the semester.
The schools vice principal, Ben Vinyard, says there's a list people looking to become substitute teachers can go on.
He says for people looking to become a substitute teacher they need to contact their Regional Official of Education. The Roe for people in Carrier Mills, Illinois or Saline County is in Harrisburg, IL.
Jerrell says he hopes more people will consider going into the teaching profession.
"And its a wonderful profession," Jerrell says. "I wish more people would come and get in our schools. Usually if we have student teachers, once they're here they fall in love with our school, and we end up hiring them."
Jerrell says that his school district has hired 3 student teachers after they finished college.
