By Richard Bammer
Public schools, including those in Solano County, for years have sometimes come up short when it comes to having enough teachers to fill all openings, especially in math, science, special education and foreign languages.
But with the fall semester well underway, and with students back into classrooms full time, the challenge to find and hire teachers and substitutes for any subject has become acute, in part because of the lingering pandemic, which has prompted a spike in retirements and resignations.
It has also led to a day-to-day scramble to find enough substitute teachers, leading to the unexpected necessity of having school and district administrators fill in, as they do in the Fairfield-Suisun and Vacaville unified districts. And a Vacaville teachers union official said there are “no quick fixes” and it’s only going to get worse.