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By Tom Chorneau
Monday, July 22, 2013
Even as enrollment in special education programs statewide continues to escalate, California’s teacher credentialing system is turning out only about half the number of fully authorized classroom educators needed to serve students with disabilities.
The deficit, which officials at the Commission on Teacher Credentialing estimate at about 5,000 per year, is largely attributed to an inability to attract enough candidates to fill California’s vast array of authorizations and certification assignments required to teach the specialized population.
But the problem, officials say, has been complicated in recent years both by legislative efforts to address the rising numbers of children diagnosed with autism and by the ravages of the economic recession that prompted thousands of teacher layoffs and widespread shuffling of staff to plug service demands.
The shortage could even deepen further if lawmakers take up a recommendation from a blue ribbon task force appointed by state schools chief Tom Torlakson to reestablish higher preparation requirements on new special