By Liz Bell, EdNC

This May in North Carolina, New Hanover County’s first early childhood substitute teacher from a new centralized substitute pool worked a shift at The Learning Tree, a licensed childcare center in Wilmington. Marquita Williams has since filled in several times in different classrooms at the center, providing coverage for teachers who called out sick or needed time off from the taxing work of early care and education. The childcare field, with low teacher pay and high stress, has struggled with burnout and teacher shortages, especially since the pandemic. The lack of a reliable, centralized pipeline of substitute teachers makes it harder to keep classrooms open and take care of teachers, said JC Elrod, director of The Learning Tree. “It’s just as needed here as it is in s

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