The reliability of substitute teaching

I have decided to work as a substitute teacher, but unfortunately I can’t do it right away because I want to adjust my existing job’s schedule around subbing (that way I can do both jobs). When I talked with my manager she said she would do her best to arrange my schedule the way I want it, but it might take a bit of time because she’s already having personell problems (2 people leaving, 1 person who was gone for a long time and supposed to come back but so far is AWOL, sloooooow training process, etc).

In a parting comment, she told me she wished me the best of luck, but warned me that other coworkers of mine had attempted the same arrangement as I was planning (sub during the day, tutor during the late afternoon/evening) and were extremely frustrated by the unreliability of substitute teaching.

This has me a little bit concerned. I wanted to rearrange my schedule so that when I started working as a sub, I would have the entire week available to substitute, in order to improve my chances of getting called. I’m also going to be calling multiple districts, both near where I live and near where my other job is located. I was hoping this would maximize my chances of having work any given day of the week but perhaps I am being really naive about the whole thing?

When I subbed, I got called 95% of the time.

When my husband was going to school, he subbed. He found he could work as much as he wanted. Most districts are desperate for subs. The pay is generally pitiful, though.