Schools Are Scrambling To Find Special Education Teachers

Philadelphia: Jasour – News Desk
Public schools are struggling to fill vacancies for special education teachers. For the 2024-25 school year, 72% of public schools with special education teacher vacancies reported they’d “experienced difficulty” filling the positions, according to the Education Department’s National Center for Education Statistics. USA talked with special education experts about the factors that led to the shortage of special education teachers and what schools can do to address the problem.

Students in special education programs have disabilities that affect how they interact and learn, and their teachers must be able to manage their emotional and academic needs, said Deborah Schadler, an interim associate dean and director of the Autism Institute at Gwynedd Mercy University, in Philadelphia.

Difficulties that arise when teachers confront the “unpredictability of human behavior” in a classroom sometimes deter them from pursuing a teaching career or drive them away from the job, Schadler said. Having mental health resources available and administrators who check in on a regular basis can make a huge difference in retaining educators and helping them cope with those challenges, said Aron Boxer, a former teacher.

Boxer, who taught special education and lives in Greenwich, Connecticut, left his job at a public school nearly nine years ago. He said he enjoyed working with disabled students who had “tough cases,” but the lack of support and the low pay drove him away. After leaving the classroom, Boxer spent two years overseeing special education services at a private school. Now, he runs his own special education tutoring company in Greenwich, where he employs people with advanced degrees in the field.

Special education is a rewarding job, but it’s a tough job,” he said. “The kids we’re working with have emotional disturbances; and since it’s one of the more taxing jobs, teachers need to be supported mentally. Providing special education teachers with consistent coaching on social-emotional learning, access to group therapy or meditation sessions and relaxation strategies could help, Boxer said. School administrators could also offer opportunities for teachers to connect “outside of the teacher lounge, away from the scrutiny of administrators” and have a neutral party facilitate the sessions, he said.

Schadler, from the Autism Institute, agrees that school administrators should regularly check in with special education teachers about their mental health. It’s one way to avoid pushing teachers out of the field. “I think that in any of those kinds of situations, they should go to the source and ask, ‘What do teachers need?” she said. “There needs to be more discussion before it reaches the point where a teacher says, ‘I’m done.'”