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AS TEACHER SHORTAGE LOOMS, SPECIAL ED PROGRAMS ARE ESPECIALLY HARD HIT

August 13, 1999

School districts across the country say it is getting harder to attract and keep qualified K-12 teachers, and according to oft-quoted numbers from the National Center for Education Statistics, the problem is expected to continue for the next 10 years as the current teacher base ages and retires. Special education teachers rank among the top three in demand across the country, along with math and bilingual teachers.

In 1996, eighty-five percent of U.S. public school districts said special ed. teachers were in immediate demand, according to Recruiting New Teachers Inc.. Since then, demand has increased even further in many districts, according to a more recent study by the American Federation of Teachers. In fact, attracting special ed., math and bilingual teachers is difficult even when there is no general teacher shortage, the AFT says. Among other education professionals directly impacting students with disabilities, occupational and physical therapists and school psychologists are also in short supply, according to the AFT, though those shortages are not as acute as that of special ed. teachers.

Substitute teachers are also harder to find, the AFT says. That fact indicates the overall teacher shortage will continue "for the foreseeable future," the AFT says. "Substitutes have traditionally provided a pool from which permanent teachers were hired. A poor labor market for college graduates in the first half of the decade helped to postpone the substitute teacher shortage, but it is now here in full force."

Among the districts in the AFT survey that have had trouble finding qualified applicants, 82 percent said increasing numbers of special needs students and fewer graduates from teacher education programs are the main reasons for the shortage. Of the districts with teacher shortfalls, 83 percent increased their teacher search efforts, 75 percent issued emergency teaching credentials and 69 percent raised all teacher salaries. Despite the rising number of special ed. students as one of the top reasons for the teacher shortage, none of the school districts said they responded last year by increasing the number of paraeducators available to assist general ed. or special ed. teachers.

Though low pay remains a concern for teachers in many districts, raising salaries alone will not solve the overall problem, the AFT and the National Education Association say. Both unions argue better programs to initiate and support rookie teachers are also critical. "Now is the time to give new teachers structured professional assistance to hold on to the staff that districts are luring with creative goodies," the NEA says. Twenty percent of new teachers leave their jobs after the first year and 50 percent of new teachers in urban areas leave within five years, according to the NEA.8