WASHINGTON, D.C. — Millions of students across the country qualify for special education services in school, but experts say there aren’t enough teachers to support them.
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Additionally, some families worry the shortage will get worse as pandemic-era funding is set to run out this fall.
Nearly one in five public schools say they were “not fully staffed” in special education classrooms last year.
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Meanwhile, researchers say more children than ever are qualifying for those services.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, more than 7.5 million students needed special education services during the 2022-2023 school year, nearly 15 percent of kids in K through 12 schools.
Now, with pandemic-era funding set to run out this fall, there’s a concern the staffing shortages may get worse.
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“Unfortunately, it does not surprise me,” Jordan Wright of the virtual learning platform “Parallel Learning” said. “Schools are underfunded. School districts are underfunded. They are not gaining resources that they need. These are absolutely vital to kids with special needs.”
Wright says schools need to be more creative with how they connect kids with professionals. They also need to identify those kids who need help earlier.
“At the end of the day, we need to do probably more early intervention,” Wright said. “We need to identify kids earlier and give them a leg up. Giving them extra resources and extra instruction and targeted instruction.”
The teacher shortage is affecting more than just special education. Last year, 86 percent of K-12 public schools reported having trouble hiring teachers in all fields.
Many states are now offering incentives to recruit new teachers as well as retain them.
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