Amid a teacher shortage in Rhode Island public schools, some Brown students are stepping in front of the blackboard as substitute teachers.
The first day of the 2024-25 school year saw 104 teacher vacancies across the Providence Public School District. This metric improved in the 2025-26 school year, but over 70 classrooms still started the year without a full-time teacher.
“There’s a real need for qualified adults in front of students,” said Katie Rieser MA’17, an associate teaching professor of education at Brown. “In the short term, it requires that the district think creatively and strategically about how to hire substitutes who will be qualified.”…