PHOENIX, Ariz. — Arizona is facing a teacher hiring crisis, and qualified teachers are already difficult to find.
As of September 2023, 2,229 teacher positions remain vacant, according to the Arizona School Personnel Administrators Association. Special education teachers can be even more difficult to find, and school districts are doing everything they can to recruit them.
Liliana Morales knew she wanted to attend a special needs classroom after volunteering in high school with her aunt, who specialized in special education.
“Then I realized I could wake up at 5 a.m., be at school at 6 a.m., and stay until 4 p.m., but it didn't feel like work. I really enjoyed it. “That's when I knew this was what I wanted to do,” Morales told ABC15.
Special education teachers and aides are difficult to find. These educators manage students with a variety of needs, from mild learning disabilities to severe needs, including student health.
Morales, who taught students in general education classrooms, said there are differences between those classrooms.
“The biggest difference is the paperwork. We have to create an Individual Education Plan (IEP), which is a very large legal document,” Morales said.
Special education had the highest number of vacancies in Arizona's education sector for the 2020-2021 school year, according to the National Center for Education's latest statistical report.
“We know that about one in three special education teachers quits after their first year of teaching,” said Erin Rotherham Fuller, associate professor at Arizona State University's Mary Lou Fulton Teachers College. says.
School districts across the Valley are offering thousands of dollars in scholarships for hard-to-fill positions.
The Valls Elementary School District, where Morales works, pays special education teachers $5,000 a year. Deer Valley Unified, Chandler Unified, Tolleson Union High School District and Dysart Unified are offering more than $3,000.
Schools are required to serve special education students. If it cannot be hired, it will be outsourced. A spokesperson for the Deer Valley Unified School District said it spent $3 million this school year with 19 companies for special education services.
Rotherham Fuller and her team are trying to find ways to help universities recruit and retain special education teachers. More than 100 of her colleagues, including researchers, educators and ASU staff, are working on something called Project OASIS (Optimizing Access for School Students).
Rotherham Fuller said she was trying to find a model that would work in schools to close the gap for students with disabilities. This includes thinking about how to create better inclusion models for students with disabilities and collaborative teaching models to help educators feel less alone.
“I think we need to ease the burden of meeting all the needs of children with a variety of high needs on one person,” Rotherham Fuller said.
Morales told ABC15 that she receives a lot of support in the classroom, including a so-called partner teacher and special education coach. From what she's heard from friends in other districts, she said that doesn't happen everywhere.
Morales said that if she didn't have the support in the classroom, “I probably would have quit after my first year.” “It’s a lot of work and some days you go home and think you can’t make it tomorrow… Having all this support really helps you get through the day and makes you better yourself. ”Come to school every day. ”
