SUBSTANCE ANNIVERSARY, HISTORY... Substance begins 41st year... Series of historical articles planned... to be labeled SUBSHISTORY (Date)...
With the publication of the August Home Page here at substancenews.net, Substance begins our 41st year of publication. Substance began as a mimeographed newsletter, produced on a Gestetner mimeograph machine, in August 1975. Originally, Substance was published as a newsletter of "Substitutes United for Better Schools," (S.U.B.S.), an organization of Chicago substitute teachers formed in the mid 1970s. S.U.B.S. had begun after a group of young substitute teachers discovered that the Chicago Teachers Union leadership had negotiated contracts between 1968 and 1975 that did well for regular teachers, but which left the pay of day-to-day substitutes at $40 per day.
By June 1976, based on knowledge some of our staff (including this reporter) had gained working with the "underground" press during the Vietnam War (see "Sir No Sir!" and its website), Substance was publishing monthly as a tabloid newspaper. Substance continued publishing in tabloid form until June 2012, when the Internet made it impossible for Substance to continue to afford to stay in print.
Since June 2012, Substance has been published on line every day at www.substancenews.net. (An earlier website at substancenews.com has been retained, but no updated since 2008). Like many print newspaper, Substance was driven "out of business" because more and more paid subscribers told us "I can read it on line for free..." Sadly, that meant Substance could no longer afford the $5,000 to $10,000 per month it cost to retain print and on line.
