VINCENNES, Ind. (WTWO/WAWV)– One organization in Vincennes hosted a panel Wednesday to discuss a problem that’s impacting communities all across Indiana– a shortage of teachers in special education.
One of the panelists was Ann Herman, the chairwoman for the Vincennes University Department of Education, and she said the problem stems from an increase in need causing burnout for those in the field.
“More and more students are being diagnosed with special needs, and more and more teachers are choosing not to stay in the profession for very long,” she said. “There’s lot of studies being done now that shows that special ed teachers stay in it for less than five years.”
She pointed to a lack of professionals licensed for “intense interventions,” or cases where students have greater needs.
“I believe it was four years ago, a piece of data that showed there were 1,500 teachers in intense interventions in the state of Indiana that were not licensed in it,” she said.
Work is being done to try and combat the problem. Herman mentioned VU, as well as other colleges across the Hoosier state, adding programs centered around certifying educators for intense interventions. The Vincennes Civitan Club also will offer a $2,500 scholarship for students pursuing education degrees going forward.
Organization president Duane Chattin said he was happy to help offer some assistance going forward.
“Working together, we came up with the idea of the Vincennes Civitan Club offering a scholarship,” he said. “This scholarship will be particularly geared towards juniors and seniors in the bachelorette program of the education department.”
Herman said this is a good start– but more work needs to be done to support these teachers.
“What a lot of special educators say is they love the profession but they’re overwhelmed with the amount of work that they have,” she said. “It’s very important for the community to know about because these kids are the future of our community, and we have to have a way to help these kids.”
Herman was joined on the panel by Sheryl Schaefer-Jones, the director of Knox County Special Education, and Gayle Baugh, a VU education major.
