I substitute teach and am fully certified. There is a school I was building sub in during the pandemic, when they were desperate for subs. I was very reliable and did a nice job for them. However, they did not even interview me when they had a fulltime opening and ended up hiring someone who subbed for another district and didn't yet have a Master's. The new hire's temporary license has only one year left on it. I'm over 40 and she is much younger. I have extensive experience doing summer school, adjuncting in college, and long-term assignments. I also have excellent references. Now the administrators in the building are very cold and unfriendly when I run into them. Should I sub there next school year?
Your experience may be your problem. Depending on your state (IDK if you're somewhere that basically requires a master's), that and any teaching years mean they have to pay you more. That may not be in the plans for one reason or another. My home district is pretty terrible about RIFing almost everyone before they reach tenure because it's cheaper to hire new teachers with zero experience and they have a built-in funnel of applicants since it's a college town. Whether or not to continue subbing is hard to say. I wouldn't take it too personally, but the choice is yours. Weigh the pros and cons of subbing there or elsewhere. At least where you are, you know what you're getting yourself into. If your goal is to get hired on permanently, leave since you know it's unlikely to happen there.
When I was still subbing, at least one of my principals told me that his school didn't hire from their "guest teacher" pool. He still gave a glowing reference to the district that finally hire me.
I would agree that with budgets as they are these days, many districts have to really stretch their funds. Hiring a teacher that would be higher on the pay scale would be a deterrent. My former district often hired from our sub pool and our student teachers because we had seen their work first hand. If you like the district and can afford to sub, do it. If you really want a full time job, ask the admins if there was a particular issue. At least you would know.
Sorry to hear about your experience. I have noticed that some districts around me value and hire those with experience and advanced degrees more than others. I wouldn't want to work anywhere that won't value and pay for that additional knowledge and experience. This could be a blessing in disguise, especially given your recent experience with the admin. My suggestion is you open yourself up to other districts and start interviewing there, esp since this district wouldn't even give you an interview. A district near me did just hire a teacher with experience and a masters degree over less expensive but also very qualified applicants. It does happen - keep trying.
Did you apply? I apologize if that comes off as a stupid question - sometimes I forget to let people know my intentions and not every sub wants a full time job. I think it is perfectly acceptable to ask them why they didn't interview you. Their reason might shape whether you choose to work there in the future. I'm so sorry they skipped what sounds like it would have been a good fit. How frustrating. As for the admin being cold now - that might be your read on what might be just busy. Or maybe it is based on something that should be cleared up. Either way - again - I would say ask why they chose to not interview you and that might answer all of it. And it could be they feel guilty so they are not as warm....but I don't think it is out of bounds to just ask why you weren't interviewed. 'Is there something I should know as I move forward in my job hunt process?' something along those lines.
