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    Students with disabilities have a right to qualified teachers — but there's a shortage

    When schools can't find a licensed special education teacher, they hire people who are willing to do the job, but lack the training. It's a practice that concerns some special education experts.
    by Lee V. Gaines Apr 20, 2022 4 minutes
    Source: Delphine Lee

    At the beginning of the school year, when Becky Ashcraft attended an open house at her 12-year-old daughter's school, she was surprised to find there was no teacher in her daughter's classroom – just a teacher's aid.

    "They're like, 'Oh, well, she doesn't have a teacher right now. But, you know, hopefully, we'll get one soon,' " Ashcraft recalls.

    Ashcraft's daughter attends a public school in northwest Indiana that exclusively serves students with disabilities. She is on the autism spectrum and doesn't speak. Without an assigned teacher, it was difficult for Ashcraft to know what her daughter did everyday.

    "I wonder what actually kind of education she was receiving," Ashcraft says.

    Ashcraft's daughter spent the entire fall semester without an assigned teacher.

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