I was in The New York Times. That’s pretty cool.

Here’s the article: Pandemic Teacher Shortages Imperil In-Person Schooling
By Natasha Singer | Jan. 19, 2021

In the fall, Brandon Summers, a violinist in Las Vegas, began a semester-long substitute assignment as an orchestra teacher in the Clark County School District, the nation’s fifth-largest school system. Although the students were learning remotely, the district initially required substitute teachers to come into school and teach virtually from classrooms.

Paid $120 per day, Mr. Summers said he took on all of the duties of a regular licensed teacher without benefits like health insurance or paid sick days. He was also expected to quickly learn an array of online attendance and communications tools — all while teaching orchestra virtually to some 210 middle school students.

He is now part of a Las Vegas community group, United Substitutes for Higher Wages and Better Benefits, that is pushing for improved working conditions for district substitutes.

“It was just chaos,” Mr. Summers said of his pandemic teaching experience, adding that the school’s support team had no power to alleviate the increased teaching burdens for temporary instructors. “They were just happy to get another adult body in front of these kids.” / pdf

The photographer took over a hundred photos, and NYT chose the saddest looking one of me 🙂