Let’s Talk About: Staff Qualifications

The Individual’s with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA) specifies the qualifications for Special Education staff.  The intention is to establish and maintain qualifications to ensure personnel are appropriately trained, adequately prepared, and have the content knowledge and skills to serve children with disabilities. 

 Qualifications for special education teachers:

1. Has obtained full State certification as a special education teacher OR passed the State special education teacher licensing examination and holds an active license to teach in the State as a special education teacher. 

2. Holds at least a bachelor’s degree.

Related service personnel (OT, PT, SLP, Nurses, etc):

1. State-approved/recognized active certification, licensing, or registration that applies to the professional discipline.

Paraprofessionals: 

1. Appropriately trained

2. Supervised

Do you know if your child’s teacher and staff meet the qualifications required by federal law?  I suggest you ask. You can also look it up:

Teachers:  https://www.gapsc.com/Certification/Lookup.aspx. 

Related Service Personnel: https://verify.sos.ga.gov/verification/ 

With the severe teacher shortage, counties are filling those positions with over 18-year-old breathing bodies and slapping a “teacher” label on them. Some school systems offer their own alternative route to certification as a special educator. That’s fine. The alternative route has to meet the minimum requirements described in IDEA. 

However, the federal law does not say “will obtain” or “in the process of obtaining” the law says “has obtained” certification as a special education teacher. 

Are you wondering what to do if your child does not have a certified special education teacher?  

Email the school’s Principal and Special Education Assistant Principal, you can even CC your school district’s board representative. Indicate you are familiar with IDEA, specifically section 1412 subsection (a)(14)(C), which establishes the qualifications for special education teachers to have obtained full State certification as a special education teacher. Indicate your awareness of your child’s teacher not having the federally mandated qualifications, which violates your child’s civil rights. Request your child be moved to a comparable classroom that does have a special education teacher with the required certification.