Who can become a substitute teacher in Minnesota?

The teacher — identified as Steven Dwight Williams by city officials in Prescott, Wis., where he'd served on the police force — had been hired by the district through a substitute staffing service called Teachers on Call . A spokeswoman for Teachers on Call said Williams is no longer an employee and had cleared a "rigorous screening process" that goes beyond standards set by the Minnesota Department of Education.

Most substitutes qualify with a three-year, short-call substitute teaching license (the type of license Williams has) that requires a bachelor's degree in any area. Applicants are not required to have completed a teaching degree.

Individuals apply for a substitute license online through the state's Professional Education Licensing Board (PELSB) and must mail in a completed fingerprint card. The state Bureau of Criminal Apprehension uses that fingerprint to run a criminal background checks. If a background check is flagged, it will be forwarded to PELSB's Ethics Department for further review. According to PELSB's website, the board "strongly urges all applicants to be completely forthcoming on their application and to submit any supporting documentation for any items which will be flagged by the BCA."

If the applicant clears the background check and provides proof of a bachelor's degree, a substitute license is issued and emailed. The whole process can take up to 30 days, according to PELSB.

In Minnesota, the rest of the hiring protocol for teachers and substitutes is largely left up to individual school districts, and they sometimes opt to use staffing agencies like Teachers on Call.

A short-term substitute license allows a substitute teacher to teach for as many as 20 days in the same classroom. Long-term subs must have a full-time teaching degree in the content area.

A recent pilot program for short-call subs allows applicants to apply jointly with a public school district or charter school. Those applicants are not required to hold a bachelor's degree and must be provided district training. Substitute licenses awarded through the pilot program are valid through the end of June 2025 and are not currently renewable.