Sacramento area school districts are reporting an increase in the number of people applying to substitute teach.

Substitutes can take home between $100 and $200 a day – nice work if you can get it during tough economic times.

"It's either directly or indirectly because of the economy," said Pat Godwin, superintendent of Folsom Cordova Unified School District. His district has seen substitute applications increase by a third this year.

Godwin said he thinks the applicants are a mix of teachers right out of college unable to find permanent positions, retired teachers supplementing their incomes, and people who have been laid off and are looking for work. For some families, substitute work offers a flexible schedule for a parent who had been staying home with the kids.

Bryan Hanson has been subbing in Elk Grove Unified for about a year.

"(W)e had a family business that ended up shutting down," said Hanson, who lives in Wilton with his wife and two children. "I am in the process of looking for another job."

There are no studies tracking the supply of, or demand for, substitute teachers in California, as far as David Wright, director of the Center for Teacher Quality at California State University, Sacramento, knows. But he's fairly certain about the reason behind the recent uptick.

"That increase that districts are seeing is almost surely the result of growing unemployment," he said.

Numbers collected by the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing show that requests for substitute teaching permits are on the rise. In 2006, the commission issued 54,975 permits. In 2007, the number increased to 57,038. In the first three quarters of this year, the office issued 48,795 permits for subs, and if the pace continues, they could issue 65,000 permits by the end of 2008.

Xavier De La Torre, associate superintendent for Human Resources in the Elk Grove Unified School District, said his department has 120 more substitutes on the rolls than it did this time last year.

The increase can be broken down in two ways, he said. The number of retiring teachers who have asked to be put on the substitute list is up by 10 percent, and there's been a spike in non-educators asking to be put on that list.

"It's real difficult to see how it is not connected to the economy," De La Torre said.

Teaching may not be Hanson's dream job, but the advantages certainly make standing in front of a chalkboard before squirming strangers more palatable.

And getting on the sub rolls was easy. He already had a bachelor's degree and only needed to pass the California Basic Educational Skills Test – a state exam that tests math and English language proficiency. He also secured a required 30-Day Emergency Substitute permit, a credential that enables him to teach for no more than 30 days in a particular class.

Most districts – Elk Grove included – contact substitutes early in the morning through an automated telephone system for work that day. Teachers can request a certain substitute they prefer.

Because Hanson knows a number of teachers in Elk Grove, he said, "I generally have some lead time. They'll let me know if they have jury duty or child care issues, for example."

Retired teachers returning to classrooms as substitutes need only show that their credentials are current.

Veteran teacher Joanne Roland taught for 17 years in the Grant Union High School District before retiring in 2005.

She began to substitute this year in part because she misses teaching, but there are certainly financial perks.

Roland is the sole provider in her household. She said she subs an average of three times a week at $185 per day.

"The economy is a huge element," Roland said. "How many of us wouldn't be on a nice island if we could be?"

Call The Bee's Melissa Nix, (916) 321-1090.