To the editor:

After reading the “Teachers miss 10,000 days of class a year” story in the Dec. 16 Journal-World, I am sure some readers are curious about teacher absenteeism. I would like to provide additional details to contextualize the article.

Teachers want to be in their classrooms to teach. However, as in other professions, there are times when teachers need to be gone for professional and personal business. When these absences occur, a substitute is needed to teach the students.

Additionally, to comply with the Family and Medical Leave Act, the district must grant leave to employees for certain health reasons. Professional development is another reason teachers are out of their classrooms. To enhance teaching skills, teachers rely on professional development. During negotiations, the Lawrence Education Assn. and the Board of Education have discussed ways to structure staff development so that we balance the need for a teacher’s continuous growth with the need to keep the teacher in the classroom.

When a teacher is absent, a substitute is required. When this occurs, the school district relies on quality substitutes to assure that learning continues. Our administration takes the hiring of substitutes seriously; it goes beyond how most districts hire substitutes by hiring qualified substitutes after carefully screening applicants.

Even with these quality assurances in place, most teachers try to avoid being absent because it takes 3-4 hours to prepare lesson plans for a substitute. Knowing this, most teachers try to schedule medical appointments and personal business activities on days when school is not in session.

Teachers work tirelessly to achieve student success. This is evidenced by the quality of work students produce as well as by their excellent scores on assessments. Please make sure to frame this issue within its greater context.

Wayne A. Kruse, president,

Lawrence Education Assn.