In The Politics of Autism, I discuss social services, special education, and the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act.
Is there a shortage of special education teachers in America’s public schools? If so, why? And how can policymakers fix it?
The first question sounds like an easy one. Yes, there is a shortage of special education teachers. In 2023–24, more than half of districts and 80 percent of states reported such a shortage.
If you doubt the self-reported data, a simple back-of-the-envelope calculation will lead you to the same conclusion. About 46,000 special education teachers leave public schools every year, while teacher preparation programs are training fewer than 30,000 new ones to replace them. Even if districts can supplement those new trainees with teachers who are re-entering the profession, that still makes for a very tight labor market.
These numbers might lead policymakers to conclude that special education shortages are largely a supply problem, but that is not so. Over time, the number of people working in special education roles has risen rapidly, but the demand for them has risen even faster. In fact, I estimate that demand-side growth can account for about two-thirds of the gap between school districts’ annual hiring needs and the number of new special education teachers being produced. Supply-side solutions are not likely to close this gap on their own.
