NCPSSERS

Nonteaching Staff Contributes to Successful Student Learning

By Kelly Vaillancourt, Libby Nealis, and Neil A. Snyder – Co-Chairs of the National Alliance of Specialized Instructional Support Personnel
Originally posted by Education Week on October 3, 2014.

A letter to the editor in response to “The Hidden Half: School Employees Who Don’t Teach,” by the Thomas B. Fordham Institute.

“This report implies that the increase in “nonteaching” staff constitutes a potential luxury our schools can do without. Particularly troublesome is the statement that these professionals do not contribute to the academic achievement of students. This is simply not true.”

Read the full story.

School Districts Stressed By Lack Of Trained Specialists

By Jessica Bies
Originally posted by Disability Scoop on September 2, 2014.

“A shortage of school psychologists and other highly trained specialists is making state and local school districts reconsider how they fill their special education departments — and in some cases has driven administrators to new extremes when it comes to hiring staff.”

Read the full story.

Retired Teachers to Fill CCSD Vacancies

By Trevon Milliard
Originally posted by the Las Vegas Review-Journal on August 28, 2014.

“Teachers in math, English, science and special education have been so hard to find that the Clark County School Board approved rehiring retired teachers Thursday to help fill 269 vacancies.”

Read the full story.

New Mexico Faces Teacher Shortage Two Days Before School Begins

By Joseph Kolb
Originally posted by Reuters on August 11, 2014.

“Just two days before classes resume, New Mexico’s biggest school district faces a shortage of almost 200 teachers, officials say, with the majority of the unfilled positions in special education and elementary grades.”

“…The elementary and special education areas are typically problematic, King said. ‘It’s not unusual for those departments to deal with teacher shortages all year,’ the [Albuquerque Public Schools] spokeswoman said.”

Read the full story.

School Districts Scrambling From Teacher Shortage

By Mark Brodie
Originally posted by KJZZ-91.5 on August 8, 2014.

“School is back in session this week for many districts across the state, but not all of them have as many teachers in the classroom as they’d like. The Arizona Department of Education says 60 percent of district superintendents report openings during the school year, and that the annual average retention rate is 65 percent.”

Read the full story.

Skyrocketing Autism Rates Put Pressure on Schools

By Kim Kilbride
Originally posted by the South Bend Tribune on June 2, 2014.

“Though funding for Indiana’s public schools has dwindled in recent years — because of Circuit Breaker tax caps, for one reason — districts are still legally required to serve all qualifying special education students…”

“…In John Glenn schools, the difference between the funding the district receives to serve all special education students and the costs of doing so is between $300,000 and $350,000 annually.

And that deficit comes from the general fund, which is the same pot of money that school districts use to pay for employee salaries and benefits, among other things.”

Read the full story.

Proposed Plan for Changing Teacher Pay Could Hurt Special Ed

By Levi Cavener
Originally posted by the Idaho Press-Tribune on June 2, 2014.

“During this year’s Idaho legislative session, a new tiered certification model was discussed as part of the recommendations from the Governor’s Education Task Force. Buried in this model has a barely discussed, but particularly insidious, implication for special education teachers and students…”

Read the full story.

Metro School Districts Try ‘Grow Their Own’ Approach to Hiring Special Education Teachers

By Kim McGuire
Originally posted by the Star Tribune: West Metro on May 5, 2014.

“A first-of-its-kind master’s degree program at the University of Minnesota promises to groom education assistants into special education teachers by training them on the job in the classrooms where they already work…”

Read the full story.