My job is to get quality special education teachers in here.
– Linda Woodward
Parents call for quality special education teachers
Delkab County School District in Georgia promised that there will be no more shortage of special education teachers from now on. Though some parents are still reluctant that the schools can provide consistent specialized teaching to their children with special needs.
Aside from the lack of special education teachers for the past few years, parents were also concerned about some teachers’ ability to identify and assess student behavior and outburst tendencies. It seems like some teachers don’t know how to identify and handle students with special needs.
There is also the lack of dedicated extra time for students with special educational needs and disabilities (SEND) which is supposed to be a part of the program guidelines.
Being a special education teacher requires certain federal and state requirements. These teachers are tasked to guide fragile SEND students which is why it normally requires a lot of training and certifications as part of their requirements.
Special education teachers are required to teach SEND students on their own respective as imposed in the Individualized Education Program (IEP) guidelines.
Georgia’s response to teacher scarcity
Linda Woodward, District interim human resource person said in a statement:
Teacher vacancies are now down to at most 40. We have succesfully addressed the scarcity of SEND teachers by aggressive recruiting and reinstating quality applicants. We reassigned teachers with special education certifications into the SEND program, and encourage paraprofessionals to consider teaching with the assurance that they will follow up with certifications later on.
According to the district, vacancies were addressed by different approaches. There were 6 slots that were filled by current general education teachers with SEND training certifications. 11 paraprofessionals who qualified for certification were promoted to teaching positions.
There were around 116 that were hired including actual special education teachers, general education teachers, and returning retirees. All of which are ensured that they fully understand and fully commit to their job and to the implementation of IEPs to SEND students.
