How to Become a Substitute Teacher (Private and Charter Schools)

Substitute teaching is credentialed state by state: where a state requires a substitute credential, that permit, license or certificate comes from a state education agency or professional standards board, and the names, education baselines and day limits differ from state to state.

Four states show the range.

Each is that state's own rule for its own schools; no one state's answer stands for another's.

• California. The Commission on Teacher Credentialing issues an Emergency 30-Day Substitute Teaching Permit requiring a bachelor's degree, fingerprinting and a fee. It is valid one year and renewable, and allows up to 30 days for any one teacher per school year (20 in special education).
• Illinois. The Illinois State Board of Education issues a Substitute Teaching License requiring a bachelor's degree, or at least 90 credit hours while enrolled in an Illinois approved program. It is valid 5 years statewide and limits a substitute to 90 school days for any one licensed teacher in a school year.
• Kentucky. The Education Professional Standards Board issues three substitute certificates: a 10-year certificate for current or former certified teachers, a 5-year certificate for a bachelor's degree, and an emergency certificate requiring a high school diploma. The emergency certificate is limited to 20 consecutive days replacing a teacher of record.
• Ohio. The State Board of Education's standard 1-year and 5-year P-12 substitute licenses require a bachelor's degree or higher, with the license field determining scope. A 1-year temporary non-bachelor's license is issued only at an employing school's request.

The education baselines differ, and so do the doors open to people without a bachelor's degree.

Kentucky's emergency substitute certificate requires a high school diploma and is limited to 20 consecutive days replacing a teacher of record.

Illinois also offers a Short-Term Substitute Teaching License through June 30, 2028; confirm its education requirement and day limit with the Illinois State Board of Education.

Two cautions before you apply.

First, a substitute credential is not a teaching license.

Ohio's State Board of Education, for one, states that substitute licenses do not meet “proper certification” requirements under Ohio law — in Ohio, the substitute credential is a door, not the destination, if a full-time teaching job is the goal.

Second, what applies at a private or charter school depends on the state and the kind of school.

On the charter side, Ohio's Department of Education and Workforce describes its community schools — charters, in Ohio's terms — as public schools independent of school districts.

Private schools differ by state.

California, for example, does not require private school teachers to hold a state teaching credential; its Education Code §48222 requires only that private full-time day schools be taught by “persons capable of teaching”.

Ohio's operating standards for chartered nonpublic schools, by contrast, require each credentialed staff member to hold the appropriate credential for the assigned position before performing its duties.

A school can also set requirements of its own — ask the school and your state education agency directly.

The direct route into a private or charter school runs through the school itself.

To get on a school's substitute list, apply to the school the way you would for any job: a short application, references who have seen you with students, and a conversation with whoever runs the office.

Ask two questions early: who assigns absences — at a small school it may be the front office, while a diocese or charter network hiring for several campuses may staff them from one office — and what the school needs finished before your first day.

Screening comes before day one, and in Kentucky, Ohio and California the rules reach substitutes as well as teachers.

Kentucky's Department of Education, in its nonpublic schools packet revised August 2026, reads its background-check statute for certified nonpublic schools to cover employees generally: teachers, administrators, counselors, substitutes and classified staff among them.

Ohio's chartered nonpublic schools must request a BCI criminal records check, including FBI information unless narrow exceptions apply, for every job applicant, for any position.

And California makes employees of private schools whose duties involve contact with pupils mandated reporters of child abuse or neglect.

A private school choosing someone for its own classrooms may also ask about fit: how you handle a room, and at a faith-based, Montessori or classical school, how a substitute carries the school's religious character or teaching method for a day.

The substitute teacher career guide covers what the work itself asks of you, from the first-day sub folder to long-term and permanent roles.

The second route is a substitute staffing firm: a firm that contracts with schools to cover teacher absences from its own substitute pool.

You apply to the firm, and one application can put you in line for work across the schools the firm serves.

Kelly Education, a substitute-staffing firm owned by Kelly Services, calls itself the nation's largest provider of education talent and says it serves 10,000+ schools and more than 1,000 school districts.

Those are the firm's own figures, not an independent count.

Two things do not change on the agency route.

Your state's substitute rules still apply to you: whether a firm-placed substitute must hold the state's permit depends on the state and on the school, so confirm with the firm and your state education agency.

And on pay, our research found no national rate a school or firm must pay.

The national benchmark that exists is BLS's OEWS May 2025 estimate for Substitute Teachers, Short-Term (SOC 25-3031).

It covers all employers nationally, public and private schools together: a median annual wage of $41,670, a median hourly wage of $20.03, and employment of 524,770.

A school's or firm's own daily rate is the number that applies to you.

The sequence is the same whether you end up on one school's list or a firm's roster: confirm the state rule, clear the checks, apply for the credential where it applies, then apply to the schools.

These steps put the pieces in order.

Once you are working, tell each office which grades and subjects you can cover and keep your calendar with them up to date.

The more a school can use you, the more work you get offered.

Career information, not legal advice — substitute requirements are set by state education agencies and by schools. Confirm the current rules with the agency and the school named before you apply.