Filling special education staffing positions continues to be very difficult task, including teaching and nonteaching (classroom aide) jobs. Although numbers nationwide show a smaller percentage of U.S. public schools reported feeling understaffed compared to the start of last school year, 45% versus 53%. In a ddition to the needs in special ed., schools in high poverty-neighborhoods and those with more than 25% students of color weren’t identifying as significantly less understaffed.
Also, according to K-12 Dive, a recent study shows that teacher vacancies in Michigan have almost doubled, yet educator applications in the state have declined by half compared to just before the pandemic. In addition, high-poverty school districts saw four times fewer applicants for teaching positions in 2022-23 as opposed to school districts serving less economically disadvantaged students.
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