As a result of the government shutdown, furloughed government employees had to make ends meet in whatever ways they could.
The recent shutdown of the federal government, lasting from Dec. 22, 2018 to Jan. 25, 2019, left employees without paychecks and invoked protests countrywide.
As a result, certain school districts like Fairfax County (FCPS) offered to hire furloughed government employees as substitutes.
On Jan. 11, FCPS held a job fair at the Gatehouse Administration Center, where federal employees attended orientation sessions on classroom management.
“The Fairfax County School Board and I know there are many talented people in our community who work for the federal government,” FCPS Superintendent Scott Brabrand said in a press release. “There is always a need for substitute teachers, and we pledge to work with qualified people to expedite their hiring.”
Assistant track coach Alex Haugh applied to be a substitute.
“I think there was a collective sense of guilt among [those] who were furloughed [because] our coworkers were burdened covering everyone’s duties,” Haugh said.
The county held two more job fairs to cope with the high demand.
“It’s great the county is trying to help out those who can’t work,” junior William Le said. “It also deals with the fact we need more substitute teachers.”