In this article, the authors describe the complexity of special education teacher (SET) shortage, how shortage undermines equal educational opportunity, and strategies that school districts and state and federal governments have used to combat them. The authors consider the economic consequences of shortage and describe how school budgets are burdened by turnover and, in some cases, litigation. The authors consider specific aspects of SET shortages, including the problems of staffing high-poverty urban and rural schools, recruiting and retaining teachers of color, and staffing alternative educational placements. The authors then consider more general factors related to shortage, including the valence of teaching as a profession, attrition, working conditions, and compensation. The authors describe how broad policy-based interventions, such as federal spending on personnel preparation and alternative route entrées to teaching, have largely failed to remedy SET shortage. Finally, the authors posit that SET shortage cannot be addressed successfully without improving working conditions and differentiating compensation for shortage area teachers and teachers working with struggling students. Although special education cannot achieve such sweeping change alone, the time seems ripe for moving forward on this important agenda.

在本文中，作者描述了特殊教育老师（SET）短缺的复杂性，短缺如何破坏平等的教育机会，以及学区，州和联邦政府用来应对这些问题的策略。作者考虑了短缺的经济后果，并描述了营业额以及某些情况下的诉讼如何负担学校预算。作者考虑了SET短缺的具体方面，包括高贫困城市和农村学校的人员配备，招聘和保留有色人种的教师以及替代教育职位的人员配备等问题。然后，作者考虑与短缺相关的更多一般性因素，包括作为职业的教学水平，人员流失，工作条件和薪酬。作者描述了广泛的基于政策的干预措施，诸如联邦政府在人员准备方面的支出以及替代教学的主干路线，在很大程度上未能弥补SET的不足。最后，作者认为，如果不改善工作条件和区分短缺地区的教师和与苦苦挣扎的学生一起工作的教师，就不能成功解决SET短缺问题。尽管特殊教育不能单独实现如此巨大的变革，但在这一重要议程上前进的时机似乎已经成熟。