Parents feeling the strain of special education teacher shortage

Seattle, WA – SEATTLE – Luke Eizen is getting ready for his second year of high school in Seattle. 

Luke is a special education student and his mom, Sara, says he was in an unstable learning environment last year. 

“He didn’t know the teacher,” Sara Eizen said. “And, so there were so many new things. Going into high school, that was already a big adjustment. And then to only have a consistent qualified teacher for six weeks.”

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Luke didn’t have a qualified special education teacher for most of the last school year. Sara’s worried this could hurt his long-term education. 

“I’m frustrated,” Eizen said. “I’m angry. I’m upset. I also don’t want to give up. I want to fight for my son’s education.” 

In 2019, 43 states reported a shortage in special education teachers. Last year, it jumped to 48. A lot of teachers left because of the pandemic. And that made it tougher on teachers who remained. 

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“In the midst of COVID, so many teachers have retired that have been emotionally drained from the experience that we’ve been under,” said special education teacher Danielle Kovach. “The workload doesn’t go away.” 

The shortage has led to more schools using substitutes who sometimes aren’t fully certified to teach special education. 

“Not having that teacher in that classroom that has been trained and is certified to work with individuals with disabilities is a challenge,” Kovach said. 

Luke had a year and a half of remote learning during the pandemic. Sara doesn’t know how her son is going to get back on track. 

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“I don’t feel confident for next year,” Eizen said. “Luke has three years left of school and sadly, we have yet to have a solid teacher.”

Sara feels like she’s running out of options for Luke to get the education he needs. 

“I feel like a failure as a parent,” Eizen said. “And this is completely out of my control, but at the same time, I really feel like I’m failing my child.”