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Special Education Is Being Gutted [1]

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Date: 2023-05-09

Children with learning disabilities, such as those with autism and attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) need special education to help meet their developmental needs. Under federal law, children with special needs are taught through an individualized education program (IEP), which is a plan developed by the child’s parents, and district personnel, to help with the child’s needs, such as speech and occupational therapy. As vital as these programs are, parents are finding that access to them is becoming harder to get, as hundreds of special educators quit their jobs.

A Massive Shortage in Special Educators

Children with special needs are increasingly being sent home and many parents simply cannot get an aide to help their children remain on their developmental track. This is because of a massive shortage in the school system, a shortage that is getting worse. According to findings by News4 I-Team , Washington has nearly 1,000 unfilled teaching positions for special educators, related service providers, such as speech-language pathologists (SLPs), and paraeducators.

Prince George’s County (PGCPS) has the most openings, with over 300 unfilled special education related positions in 2023. D.C. Public Schools (DCPS) have 250 unfilled positions for teachers, special providers and paraeducators, while Fairfax County Public Schools (FCPS) has 173 unfilled positions, Montgomery County Public Schools has 113 unfilled positions, Alexandria City Public Schools has 57 unfilled positions, and Arlington Public Schools (APS) has 41 unfilled positions. This shortage has forced schools to rely on unqualified special educators to plug the gap. In Montgomery County, 570 special educators do not have any relevant qualifications. This is clearly an insane situation. To help these special educators, schools have had to invest in coaching and professional development programs, something for which they may not have the budget to do. Washington isn’t the only state facing massive shortages; The National Coalition on Personnel Shortages in Special Education and Related Services says that 49 of our nation’s states, or 98% of America’s school districts , have shortages of special educators and related specialists.

High Teacher Churn

The reason we face such a stark shortage is simply because we have created a situation in which teachers face increasing demands on their time, without the rewards of their work increasing in any meaningful way. When you consider that pensions in many states are in deep crisis , the picture becomes even starker: teachers are asked to work in these demanding roles, for far less than they could earn outside of teaching, and either have no defined pension benefits, or, have shrinking pension benefits. As classes get bigger, and regulatory requirements increase, teacher workload increases, and often, teachers are being taken away from their passion to complete paperwork. This is not an attractive proposition for anyone. Teachers are simply not being given the support and the rewards they need. The shortage accelerated during the pandemic, with a third of teachers saying they left teaching earlier than they had first planned.

This cannot go on. Unless we increase support for special educators, service providers and paraeducators, and simply pay them far more than they are being paid now, we will continue to bleed the very people who are vital to the education of special needs children. Without that, we will end up with a generation of special needs people whose developmental needs have largely been unmet. This is a tragedy that is largely under-reported and yet so important, with 7 million special needs children through our education system.

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[1] Url: https://www.dailykos.com/stories/2023/5/9/2168439/-Special-Education-Is-Being-Gutted

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