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KINGSTON &#8212; Want to be a teacher? If you&#8217;ve got a bachelor&#8217;s degree, about $100 or so and a day and a half for training, you could take a crack at substitute teaching through a new &#8220;guest teacher&#8221; program being introduced by the Luzerne Intermediate Unit.The shortage of substitute teachers in area school districts has grown so acute the LIU is rolling out the program to plug the holes. Executive Director Anthony Greico plans to explain the idea to the LIU board of directors at Wednesday&#8217;s meeting and to superintendents of area school districts in March.The process is relatively simple and cheap, compared to getting a state teacher&#8217;s license. An applicant needs a bachelor&#8217;s degree (the subject doesn&#8217;t matter) from an accredited institution, and must complete background checks and clearances required by the state.The candidate must fill out an application, get medical clearance from a health care provider, including a tuberculosis test, and provide a sealed college transcript.The various clearances involve fees generally ranging from $10 to $28, and the LIU charges $40 for the program. Colleges may also charge a fee for providing a transcript. All fees for the medical clearances and tests &#8212; which can include tests required by the district that hires the substitute &#8212; are the responsibility of the applicant.Greico estimated total cost could top $100, but usually not by much.If you complete all that and get through an interview, the LIU provides online training and a half-day of on-site training at its Kingston headquarters. Successful completion leads to a state emergency certification as a day-to-day substitute teacher, allowing you to teach any subject in any grade.There are limitations, though. A guest teacher cannot substitute for more than 20 consecutive days in the same classroom, and can only teach in districts participating in the program (payment is from the district and varies by district). The emergency certification is only good for one year and must be renewed after that.But Greico said some area districts are increasingly unable to fill their substitute needs. The LIU &#8212; a state agency that provides a variety of services, primarily special education, to area schools &#8212; fails to fill substitute needs about 15 percent of the time, he added.It&#8217;s true the &#8220;teach any subject in any class&#8221; certification can lead to preparation issues. Theoretically, someone who never studied a subject could end up teaching it. Greico said the safeguards against that include the ability of the substitute to decline a job for which he or she feels unprepared, and the expectation that a full-time teacher has a lesson plan rigorous and advanced enough to help a substitute get through the day&#8217;s lessons.Becoming a guest teacher could help those thinking of switching careers to teach full time, Greico said, because the time in class counts toward time required to get a license. It would not, however, be a shortcut to a teaching license.More information is available at <a href="http://www.liu18.org/index.php/programs/guestteacher" target="_blank">liu18.org/index.php/programs/guestteacher</a>. For the first round of the program this spring, the LIU has set an application deadline of Feb. 26, followed by interviews March 3 and 7, with the onsite training March 8.<div class="metaInfo"><bylineMeta>By Mark Guydishmguydish@www.timesleader.com</bylineMeta></div><div class="metaInfo"><shirttailMeta>Reach Mark Guydish at 570-991-6112 or on Twitter @TLMarkGuydish</shirttailMeta></div>

Psst. Want to be a teacher? Here’s how