Minnesota's special ed teachers are out of compliance — and at risk of losing funding
Hundreds of Minnesota special education teachers don’t have formal teacher training and thus are out of compliance with federal guidelines.
Hannah Yang | MPR News
Hundreds of Minnesota special education teachers don’t have formal teacher training. Because of that, they’re out of compliance with federal guidelines. That means the state is at risk of losing millions of federal dollars if it doesn’t make a plan by this Sunday.
That’s according to Sahan Journal reporter Becky Dernbach. She talked with MPR News host Cathy Wurzer about her reporting and where the state might go from here.
Use the audio player above to listen to the full conversation.
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Audio transcript
CATHY WURZER: This might come as a surprise, but hundreds of Minnesota special ed teachers do not have formal tr-- do not have formal teacher training. And because of that, they're out of compliance with federal guidelines. And because of that, the state is at risk of losing millions of federal dollars if they don't make a plan by Sunday.
Becky Dernbach is on the line. She's a reporter with Sahan Journal who broke this story. Becky, thanks for joining us.
BECKY DERNBACH: Hi, Cathy. Thanks for having me.
CATHY WURZER: This may surprise a lot of people, and this deals with how teacher licensing works in Minnesota. How is it that so many Minnesota special ed teachers don't have formal training?
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah, so there are a couple different ways to become a teacher in Minnesota. You might think of a traditional teacher preparation program. You go get a degree. You do student teaching. That's how most teachers in the state have their license, more than 90%.
But then there are some other pathways after a state law went into effect in 2018. So if you just have a bachelor's degree and a job offer from a school, you can also become a teacher for any subject, including special education. And some districts have really found that to be helpful, especially during the teacher shortage. And they found it really hard to fill special education positions. And so they've found it helpful to be able to pull candidates.
CATHY WURZER: Are there issues when it comes to special ed specifically?
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah. Well, there are federal laws that govern rights for students with disabilities, including that their teachers need to be adequately and appropriately trained and prepared. Special education is a broad category that can really run through a bunch of different issues, from autism to emotional and behavioral disorders.
And so some advocates for special education students say, yeah, these teachers really need to be trained in knowing what they're doing with special education students. If you [AUDIO OUT] who doesn't have any training or background, they won't know why students are acting a certain way in class. They won't know what kind of [INAUDIBLE] they need. And they just won't be getting the educational supports that they need.
CATHY WURZER: So are there issues, then? Is there a penalty if there's not a plan by Sunday?
BECKY DERNBACH: So they need to come up with a plan by the 16th, which is Sunday. Ultimately, $219 million in federal funding could be at risk. The US Department of Education, from my communications with them, it does not sound like they're going to pull the plug on that funding immediately on Sunday if there's no plan.
So the plan needs to be in place by June 30 of next year. And it's [AUDIO OUT] a legislative solution. The legislature says they intend to work on that or the education policy committee chairs say they intend to work on that when they come back in February. And the feds also say that they have pulled federal funding twice in the past, but it's several years of warnings. And [AUDIO OUT] point yet.
CATHY WURZER: You're breaking up a little bit here, Becky, too.
BECKY DERNBACH: Oh, sorry.
CATHY WURZER: That's OK. It's not your fault. You mentioned the state legislature. And I understand that the state was notified that it might be out of compliance back in October. And, to the best of my knowledge, this wasn't brought up this past session. Why not?
BECKY DERNBACH: Right. So the Pioneer Press wrote about that in December. There was a letter that went out in October that-- it was sort of a general letter that went out to states across the country saying, hey, we know that it's been a tough time for teacher shortages in special education, but you still have to make sure that your teachers are meeting these requirements. But it wasn't like, Minnesota, these are the ways that you're out of compliance.
So the state licensing board discussed it and discussed possible solutions to have Minnesota meet those standards. But, in the end, they decided not to advocate for that because they were worried about the teacher shortage and the special education teacher shortage in particular and worried about making it worse. And so legislators now are telling me, oh, we didn't really see that as, Minnesota, you have to fix this now. And then by the time this new letter came out, it was mid-May. And the legislative session was almost over. So now they've been formally warned. And they say they'll get to it next session.
CATHY WURZER: All right, so we're focusing here on special ed teachers. But under this Tier 1 License you talked about, teachers of all sorts of subjects can still teach in Minnesota under this license, right? So why weren't other teachers called out? Is it strictly because this is a special ed issue?
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah, so there's federal funding involved for special education. And the letter came from the Office of Special Education Programs out of the US Department of Education. And so yeah, so this is-- if you're a Tier 1 math teacher, an elementary education teacher, there's nothing in this letter that's related to that. But the federal government does want to make sure that special education students in particular are getting-- are having teachers who are meeting certain federal standards. And there is federal funding tied to that.
CATHY WURZER: OK. Thinking back to the debates over alternative licensure at the Capitol, the teachers' union, Education Minnesota, wasn't terribly excited about it. I know they wanted it to be stricter licensing. So I'm wondering, what kind of reactions are you hearing from educators and from the union?
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah, so I think that, right, this licensure debate has often been much broader than these special education issues. I think that Education Minnesota has advocated for tightening up the licensure system a little bit, to make it so that more people get professional training, to encourage more professional training. And people who are advocating for more alternative pathways have really wanted to-- when alternative pathways are more on the table, they've argued that it really diversifies the teaching profession and brings a lot of new people into classrooms that are really beneficial to students.
So that's sort of been where the debate has been at the Capitol. And I think that for this issue, I think that people on all sides of it are wanting to see a fix that addresses the special education side of it. But, I mean, we'll see how that ends up playing out at the Capitol.
CATHY WURZER: Right. And, as you say, next session they'll be taking this up.
BECKY DERNBACH: Yes.
CATHY WURZER: Right. Becky, thank you so much.
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah. Thanks for having me.
CATHY WURZER: Becky Dernbach is a reporter for Sahan Journal. And if you've not checked out Sahan Journal, it's an online news source covering BIPOC and refugee communities across Minnesota. Just go to sahanjournal.com. You can read Becky's reporting at sahanjournal.com.
Becky Dernbach is on the line. She's a reporter with Sahan Journal who broke this story. Becky, thanks for joining us.
BECKY DERNBACH: Hi, Cathy. Thanks for having me.
CATHY WURZER: This may surprise a lot of people, and this deals with how teacher licensing works in Minnesota. How is it that so many Minnesota special ed teachers don't have formal training?
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah, so there are a couple different ways to become a teacher in Minnesota. You might think of a traditional teacher preparation program. You go get a degree. You do student teaching. That's how most teachers in the state have their license, more than 90%.
But then there are some other pathways after a state law went into effect in 2018. So if you just have a bachelor's degree and a job offer from a school, you can also become a teacher for any subject, including special education. And some districts have really found that to be helpful, especially during the teacher shortage. And they found it really hard to fill special education positions. And so they've found it helpful to be able to pull candidates.
CATHY WURZER: Are there issues when it comes to special ed specifically?
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah. Well, there are federal laws that govern rights for students with disabilities, including that their teachers need to be adequately and appropriately trained and prepared. Special education is a broad category that can really run through a bunch of different issues, from autism to emotional and behavioral disorders.
And so some advocates for special education students say, yeah, these teachers really need to be trained in knowing what they're doing with special education students. If you [AUDIO OUT] who doesn't have any training or background, they won't know why students are acting a certain way in class. They won't know what kind of [INAUDIBLE] they need. And they just won't be getting the educational supports that they need.
CATHY WURZER: So are there issues, then? Is there a penalty if there's not a plan by Sunday?
BECKY DERNBACH: So they need to come up with a plan by the 16th, which is Sunday. Ultimately, $219 million in federal funding could be at risk. The US Department of Education, from my communications with them, it does not sound like they're going to pull the plug on that funding immediately on Sunday if there's no plan.
So the plan needs to be in place by June 30 of next year. And it's [AUDIO OUT] a legislative solution. The legislature says they intend to work on that or the education policy committee chairs say they intend to work on that when they come back in February. And the feds also say that they have pulled federal funding twice in the past, but it's several years of warnings. And [AUDIO OUT] point yet.
CATHY WURZER: You're breaking up a little bit here, Becky, too.
BECKY DERNBACH: Oh, sorry.
CATHY WURZER: That's OK. It's not your fault. You mentioned the state legislature. And I understand that the state was notified that it might be out of compliance back in October. And, to the best of my knowledge, this wasn't brought up this past session. Why not?
BECKY DERNBACH: Right. So the Pioneer Press wrote about that in December. There was a letter that went out in October that-- it was sort of a general letter that went out to states across the country saying, hey, we know that it's been a tough time for teacher shortages in special education, but you still have to make sure that your teachers are meeting these requirements. But it wasn't like, Minnesota, these are the ways that you're out of compliance.
So the state licensing board discussed it and discussed possible solutions to have Minnesota meet those standards. But, in the end, they decided not to advocate for that because they were worried about the teacher shortage and the special education teacher shortage in particular and worried about making it worse. And so legislators now are telling me, oh, we didn't really see that as, Minnesota, you have to fix this now. And then by the time this new letter came out, it was mid-May. And the legislative session was almost over. So now they've been formally warned. And they say they'll get to it next session.
CATHY WURZER: All right, so we're focusing here on special ed teachers. But under this Tier 1 License you talked about, teachers of all sorts of subjects can still teach in Minnesota under this license, right? So why weren't other teachers called out? Is it strictly because this is a special ed issue?
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah, so there's federal funding involved for special education. And the letter came from the Office of Special Education Programs out of the US Department of Education. And so yeah, so this is-- if you're a Tier 1 math teacher, an elementary education teacher, there's nothing in this letter that's related to that. But the federal government does want to make sure that special education students in particular are getting-- are having teachers who are meeting certain federal standards. And there is federal funding tied to that.
CATHY WURZER: OK. Thinking back to the debates over alternative licensure at the Capitol, the teachers' union, Education Minnesota, wasn't terribly excited about it. I know they wanted it to be stricter licensing. So I'm wondering, what kind of reactions are you hearing from educators and from the union?
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah, so I think that, right, this licensure debate has often been much broader than these special education issues. I think that Education Minnesota has advocated for tightening up the licensure system a little bit, to make it so that more people get professional training, to encourage more professional training. And people who are advocating for more alternative pathways have really wanted to-- when alternative pathways are more on the table, they've argued that it really diversifies the teaching profession and brings a lot of new people into classrooms that are really beneficial to students.
So that's sort of been where the debate has been at the Capitol. And I think that for this issue, I think that people on all sides of it are wanting to see a fix that addresses the special education side of it. But, I mean, we'll see how that ends up playing out at the Capitol.
CATHY WURZER: Right. And, as you say, next session they'll be taking this up.
BECKY DERNBACH: Yes.
CATHY WURZER: Right. Becky, thank you so much.
BECKY DERNBACH: Yeah. Thanks for having me.
CATHY WURZER: Becky Dernbach is a reporter for Sahan Journal. And if you've not checked out Sahan Journal, it's an online news source covering BIPOC and refugee communities across Minnesota. Just go to sahanjournal.com. You can read Becky's reporting at sahanjournal.com.
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