NC substitute teachers aren’t getting paid, but they can get federal jobless benefits

NC substitute teachers aren’t getting paid, but they can get federal jobless benefits

BY T. KEUNG HUIMAY 18, 2020 12:59 PM , UPDATED MAY 18, 2020 01:15 PM

NC governor says continuing unemployment benefit problems are ‘unacceptable’

Advertisement: 0:53North Carolina Gov. Roy Cooper tells reporters on April 30, 2020, that it is “unacceptable” that people are still having problems contacting the state’s Employment Securities Commission to apply for unemployment benefits. BY WUNC-TV

North Carolina substitute teachers who haven’t been getting paid while schools are closed during the coronavirus pandemic can now file for unemployment benefits.

Only a small group of substitute teachers — those who work more than 30 hours a week — have been eligible for state unemployment benefits. But substitute teachers can get assistance under a federal program created to provide COVID-19 relief to independent contractors and self-employed workers who aren’t eligible for state unemployment benefits.

“It’s been nice to have that assistance,” Hunter Tharpe, a substitute teacher for Iredell-Statesville Schools, said in an interview with The News & Observer.TOP ARTICLES  00:01 / 00:15SKIP AD

School districts rely on substitute teachers to fill in when regular classroom teachers aren’t able to work.