Students sometimes forget, but teachers have their own lives; promotions, illness, family, and tragedies happen to them, too. When teachers have to leave in the middle of a semester, students are often left shocked and annoyed with what they believe to be an inane substitute.

These substitutes, however, aren’t always as bad as students believe them to be, but the substitutes can definitely have flaws. I have had the frustration of dealing with a teacher leaving in the middle of the semester many times throughout my school years, and I know that many of my classmates have suffered the same fate.

There are many dilemmas that students confront when a teacher must leave before the school year is over, but I think one of the worst is the amount of busy work we get. Teachers usually try their best to leave us prepared for the rest of the semester, but it is hard to effectively teach with just worksheets and textbook readings. A substitute’s job is usually likened to that of a babysitter, not of a teacher. Students perceive the assigned work to be a joke that consumes time that could be well spent studying or actually learning.

This busy work also ends up causing the students to disrespect the substitute who replaced the teacher. This power struggle becomes a major issue with more permanent subs because the students see no real authority in the class. The conflict leads to even less work getting done, with students simply just being rude and disrespectful to the sub, which also accomplishes nothing. Kids frequently see classes with subs as opportunities to skip class or to do nothing for an hour and a half, so it is tough for many kids to accept a sub as a new teacher.

It’s a tough situation for both the student and the substitute. Teachers often try their best to find a good replacement to take their classes, but the choices are difficult considering Atlanta Public Schools substitutes are not required to have a valid teaching certificate. Substitutes often leave the students in a position of helplessness where they are given confusing assignments, tests or projects on topics they barely learned. Also, substitutes rarely communicate well with the class, which leads to frustration on both ends.

The only real positive outcome I’ve had from a semi-permanent substitute is having a free period during that class, giving me a way  to complete homework for other classes, or catch up on some of my favorite shows on Netflix. This may be entertaining in the moment, but is simply unacceptable for a class.

Subs, like students, also have little incentive to put effort into the class. The maximum Atlanta Public Schools salary for a day of substitute teaching is a meager $100, with no benefits, according to the APS website. If a substitute worked every day of the school year, their pay wouldn’t even be half of a starting teacher salary.

There is no simple solution to this problem, but it certainly would be ameliorated if students gave substitutes a higher level of respect, and APS gave them a higher salary and raised the prerequisites to become a substitute. A solution that might be even better is switching all of the affected kids into a different teacher’s class, so you will have someone that has mastered the subject and knows what they are doing. Even that isn’t perfect though, because you have the difficulty of making the switch to a new teacher with new rules and ways of running the class.

As much as you may claim to hate your teacher, trust me, you don’t want them leaving anytime soon.