What do those in the field view as top concerns?
By Deborah Jeanne Sergeant
In some ways, educating children with disabilities has never been easier, with helpful technology, lower stigma and widespread integration among people of various abilities. But special education professionals shared the issues that remain challenging in their field.
From Christine Sheffer, doctorate in education and superintendent at Mary Cariola Children’s Center, Rochester:
• “Staff shortages are a challenge for administrators, teachers and clinicians, meaning occupational, physical, speech, vision and music therapists. They work as part of a team and with people missing, that’s a challenge. Over my 30-year career, the recruiting and retention of qualified staff is the most challenging right now. There’s a persistent shortage of special education teachers and many of the therapists. High turnover rates mean we lack quality training time. We serve the most complex students. They need and deserve the most skilled teachers, clinicians and staff.
• “There’s a significant increase in mental health and behavioral needs. Our students need highly skilled people providing these supports. We need trauma informed instruction and practices through the school so we can meet students and their family where they are and provide the most appropriate education that can be provided. For students who’ve qualified for special education, they have an individualized education program. Meeting those fully is a challenge. They need classroom aides, clinicians and teacher’s aides. They all need to focus on meeting that IEP. They need to provide appropriate modifications to it and make sure the interventions are tailored to the student, which is different than doing the same thing for many students. With frequent turnover, people don’t get enough time to learn those skills. The longer someone works in the field, the longer they have to learn those skills.
• “Keeping up with technology is a challenge. Here, our focus is raising the bar for kids with complex needs and developing strategies to help them be as independent as possible and learn as much as possible. Technology allows ways for students to learn. Before you can learn tech in a meaningful way, the teachers and staff and clinicians need to learn it. It’s also expensive. For families, we can’t use a communication device or strategy at school and send the student home without it. We are dedicated in making sure parents know how to use them.
• “For families there are many challenges to raising children with complex disabilities. We have seen increased wait times for services. For early intervention or ages 3-5, they need services now, not six months when a provider is found. It’s not good for kids.
• “It’s difficult to build an accurate budget when I don’t know what my state tuition rate will be for the year coming. I don’t know what federally sourced money amount to.
• “Families that have a child with complex disabilities often have housing instability at a greater rate than other families. Often, it’s because perhaps a parent can’t work. If I have a 13-year-old child without a disability, they can stay home alone a few hours after school. One that needs ongoing care and supervision that can impact my ability to keep a job.”
From Heather M. Burroughs, advocacy and education director for AutismUp, Rochester:
• “We’re hearing from parents about the impacts of staffing shortages in special education. Some students are receiving less than ideal services, being defaulted to tutoring (which doesn’t meet all needs) or in the worst cases, receiving nothing at all and ending up isolated at home. Innovative, inclusive, community programs like ours are helping to fill in the gaps.”
From Kristyn Roth, chief marketing officer, Autism Society of America
• “One of the most pressing challenges in special education today is the nationwide shortage of qualified special educators and support staff. During the 2023–2024 school year, over half of school districts and 80% of states reported personnel shortages, according to the U.S. Department of Education. These gaps directly impact students with disabilities, who often require individualized support to succeed.
• “To address this, federal and state governments must invest in recruitment, training and retention strategies. Without meaningful investment in the special education workforce, schools cannot adequately meet the needs of the students they serve.
• “This crisis is compounded by chronic underfunding. Despite the federal government’s longstanding promise to cover 40% of the excess cost of special education under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA), funding has consistently fallen short, covering less than 15% in recent years.
• As recent federal budget decisions and directives related to the Department of Education continue to freeze or reduce education funding, the needs of students — especially those with disabilities — are increasingly going unmet. Every child deserves the opportunity to access a quality, inclusive and supported education.”