ObamaCare causing substitute teacher shortage in Alabama

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May 12, 2015

WSFA.com Montgomery Alabama news.
(Video Above: WSFA reports on the ObamaCare-caused substitute teacher shortage)

AUTAUGA COUNTY, Ala. — The Autauga County, Alabama school system is having trouble affording its substitute teachers, blaming ObamaCare’s requirement to provide health insurance for any employee working more than 30 hours a week.

In a recent report by Montgomery NBC affiliate WSFA, local teachers and school administrators lamented the law’s strict requirements, describing the hardships the system is experiencing.

Because the school system cannot afford to pay the estimated $10,000 per substitute per year cost of providing health insurance to any sub working more than 30 hours a week, classes often have to double up, or full-time teachers must take turns popping in during their planning periods to create a patchwork cover for the children whose teacher is out.

“We have substitute teachers that want and depend on this money,” said system superintendent Spence Agee who outright blames ObamaCare for the dilemma. “We just wouldn’t have any money to operate; we couldn’t turn the lights on.”

According to the WSFA report, failing to comply with the law’s onerous requirements would cause a $2 million fine to be levied on the school system—an amount that the school system says it can’t afford either.

The school system is searching for other options to cover the gap, including hiring more substitutes to work fewer hours, or finding an exception in the law’s stringent requirement, or contracting out to a temp agency.

“We’re going to do the very best we can to provide the best education experience,” Agee said.

Other school systems in the state have faced the same issue, including the Marshall, Elmore, and Montgomery County school systems.