Alternative Routes for Spec. Ed. Teachers Relieving Shortages Worsened by NCLB

The shortage of special education teachers in Volusia County a few years back was critical.

“The positions had to be filled with out-of-field teachers who had no training whatsoever in special education, but who had the heart to work with these children,” recalled Albert Bouie, the director of recruitment for the 65,000-student Florida district that includes Daytona.

Then, in 2003, the district received a state grant that gave it money to start an in-house alternative-certification program that would train 25 teachers each year in areas of high need, including special...