School districts struggling to hire enough special education teachers

A new study shows more students with disabilities are enrolling in public schools.

The Pew Research Center says about 15 percent of students nationally have special needs.

News Center 7′s Kayla McDermott talked to the mother of a special needs student in Beavercreek.

Carrie Buckalew says her 10-year-old son Isaac needs extra care in the classroom.

“He has a variety of diagnoses,” Buckalew said. “Autism, ADHD, global developmental delays, he’s nonverbal but uses a meditative communication device.”

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Because of Isaac’s disabilities, it was nerve-wracking for his mother to send him to school.

“You just want your kid to be included in everything and be ‘normal,’” she said.

She said Isaac has been able to do just that at Trebein Elementary School in Beavercreek

“They have taken great care of him and I never have a worry or concern,” she said.

She even gets updates on Isaac throughout the day from her teachers.

Special education teachers are some of the hardest for schools to hire and pay correctly according to the National Education Association.

Hires are needed for the more than 7 million students who enrolled in K-12 last year across the country.

Buckalew can’t imagine what other parents must go through who drop their kids off at districts not equipped with the proper staffing.

“We have been blessed to have what we have but I know not all parents are like that,” Buckalew said. “I really feel for the parents who do struggle and have to fight to get the services their kids need.”

News Center 7 talked to superintendents who said they hope to see more people who get into the field of teaching go into special needs or even become special needs aids

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