There's no substitute - The politics of time transfer in the teaching profession

Recent scholarly attention has turned to the imbalance of work time in the United States. Although some workers experience overwork, others remain und eremployed often in contingent employment. School districts across the Unit ed States are experiencing shortages of substitute teachers, while regular teachers experience long workdays and significant work-family conflict. Wit hout the ability to recruit more substitutes, many districts propose soluti ons to classroom coverage problems that involve a time transfer from a grou p of substitute teachers to regular teachers through reducing the districts ' reliance an substitutes and extending teachers' work hours. Although subs titutes who were interviewed expressed a desire for more reaching hours, th ey were constrained by their need to make a living either through multiple jobs or finding a higher wage job. This case study demonstrates the process through which a time transfer is proposed contested by teachers, and ultim ately adopted without challenging the disparities between these groups of t eachers.