Special education teaching hopefuls await state approval

Benjamin Grove

Thursday, Dec. 10, 1998 | 11:07 a.m.

Jose Perez manages an auto parts store, scrambling between the store's till and customers looking for car batteries.

But Perez has another goal: becoming a special education teacher. He hopes an upstart Clark County School District program will make that happen.

"It was always in the back of my mind to become an educator," said Perez, 49. "But that (school) system always looked so hard to get into."

The school district program was designed this year to fast-track Perez and 42 others looking for second careers into special education classrooms. Some already work in schools as teacher's aides.

The program was supposed to chip away at a growing problem: 80 of nearly 1,300 special education teachers in the county are full-time substitutes with limited qualifications.

Another 200 special education teachers have what officials call "state-approved waivers," a kind of emergency certification, said Annie Barclay, a special education administrator.

Perez and the other program participants -- all have college degrees -- are working on additional college coursework in special education, bent on earning special education degrees. Most are finishing their second course this month.

School officials planned to hire them in January and put them in classrooms, under the supervision of seven "master" teacher mentors. The would-be teachers would continue learning on the job as they finished their degrees.

But the program's future is uncertain. On Friday, the state's Commission on Professional Standards in Education delayed approval of the program, at least until a Jan. 22 meeting in Carson City. Panel members, who oversee teacher licensing, are wary of granting "conditional licenses" to unqualified teachers.

It's just plain difficult to find educators willing to take on the high-stress job of teaching special education, officials say.

"We're not at a point where we're just trying to stick a finger in the dike," said Brad Reitz, director of school-based special education services. "We need a whole new dike. Unless we do something heroic, we're not going to have enough teachers. And the kids suffer."

But the conditional certification makes the board nervous.

"My concern is that we are rushing to meet a need," commissioner Delores Johnston said after the meeting. "I want to make sure we're protecting the best interests of the students."

However, commission President Richard Cawley said, "It's not as if we're just taking someone off the streets."

"I wouldn't endorse this at all if there were anyone else available," Cawley said. "But I'd rather see someone who had nine hours (special education) in a classroom than a substitute who might only have 60 hours in who-knows-what."

School officials were dismayed with the delay. They hoped to get the program teachers in classrooms next month.

"The shortage is there and everybody needs more and more (teachers)," said George Ann Rice, assistant superintendent of human resources. "We've got to find more qualified pools of people who will be effective in those classrooms."

Perez said he would continue to work -- often more than 40 hours a week -- and studying toward his special education degree, with the fate of the program up in the air.

"There are a lot of upset people (in the program)," Perez said. "I'm trying to keep my confidence level up. There's a lot at stake."