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"Special education vacancies are always harder to fill," said Supt. Nikolai Vitti. "Because there are fewer teachers are generally going into the field of teaching and when they are, they aren't necessarily going into special education."
Abby Cypher is the executive director of the Michigan Association of Administrators of Special Education. âIf people are not in a good place when they come to work, or if students aren't in a place where they can access learning. What we teach is sort of irrelevant,â Cypher said. She believes teacher shortages and burnout needs to be address in the state right away. That is why the MI Blueprint for Comprehensive Student Recovery, that came out this week, is important. "The first thing that the blueprint talks about is wellness," Cypher said. The blueprint was released by Gov. Gretch...
Special education teacher shortage worries Michigan educators FLINT, Michigan (WNEM) — A shortage of special education teachers in Michigan is growing worse during the pandemic. That shortage is prompting the state to loosen restrictions just to fill gaps, but those directly affected by the problem say the state needs to act before the problem gets out of hand. “It was a 40 percent increase in retirement from last year’s numbers,” said Kate Dupuis, a special education elementary teacher at Carrollton Public Schools. Dupuis said the statewide teacher shortage is bad and gettin...
Credit WoodleyWonderWorks / Flickr The Michigan Department of Education is offering an option to help school districts deal with what State Superintendent Dr. Michael Rice calls a "critical shortage of special education teachers in many Michigan school districts." The MDE will allow a time limited waiver that enables a district to temporarily fill a vacancy in a special education classroom with a special education teacher whose specialty area - formally called an endorsement - differs from the classroom with an open slot. The goal is to reduce reliance on substitute teachers in special educ...