Parents, educators tell U.S. Commission on Civil Rights teacher shortages are denying services to students with disabilities

The U.S. Commission on Civil Rights convened a public listening session on Dec. 13, 2024, to gather firsthand accounts of how teacher shortages affect students with disabilities. Parents, educators and advocates from multiple states described delays in evaluations, chronic vacancies in special-education positions, district-level workarounds that reduce services, and the compounding effects of underfunding.

Khosum Tapal, education policy coordinator at the Coalition for Asian American Children and Families, said shortages of certified special-education teachers and evaluators in New York undermine timely access to IEP services and highlighted language- and culture-related barriers for Asian American and Pacific Islander students. "Currently, only 5% of educators in New York are API, while 10% of the student body is AAPI," Tapal said, urging disaggregated data and recruitment of bilingual, culturally competent staff.

An impacted parent and former teacher described lengthy waits and punitive outcomes linked to staffing gaps. "Waiting is inhumane," the parent told commissioners, and argued the federal government underfunds services required under IDEA by what he characterized as "over $23,000,000,000." The commission did not verify that figure during the session; it was presented as witness testimony.

Other witnesses described district responses that reduce instructional time or narrow eligibility rather than add staff, instances where waivers to credentialing rules allowed hires with lapsed credentials, and substantial increases in special-education evaluations in some districts. Dr. Jennifer DeWard (Grand Valley State University) and others detailed state- level incentive programs—such as stipends for student-teaching semesters and alternate certification routes in Michigan—to recruit teachers, while several speakers emphasized retention, workload and working-condition reforms as essential to stabilize staffing.

Speakers also warned of broader policy risks. One parent argued that proposals to eliminate the U.S. Department of Education or weaken federal oversight could leave about 8,000,000 students with disabilities subject to uneven state-by-state protections.

Commissioners thanked participants and staff, and the chair reminded attendees that written comments could be submitted to teachershortage@USCCR.gov by Dec. 16, 2024. The session ended at 1:34 p.m. ET. Commissioners said the testimony will inform the commission’s continuing work on teacher shortages and related civil-rights implications.