Oregon plans to split $8.9 million among special education teachers, paraeducators and other staff in an effort to address shortages in the field, but not everyone is convinced one-time bonuses are the right approach. (Blind)
PORTLAND, Ore. — Oregon will split $8.9 million among the state’s special education teachers, paraeducators and other staff as one-time bonuses intended to help address the field’s alarming recruitment and retention problems.
The money follows a 2023 law that created a potential pay differential for special education workers, allowing school districts to increase their salaries or give them one-time stipends. State Sen. Michael Dembrow, who sponsored the 2023 law and pushed for the current funding, said the bonuses are now intended to ensure that all special educators receive recognition, regardless of school districts’ individual pay decisions.
“We wanted to make sure there was something for everyone,” Dembrow said.
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Anyone who dedicates at least 75% of their work time to supporting students who have individualized educational programs will qualify for the bonus. School districts and other qualified organizations, such as public charter schools, are responsible for counting how many of their staff qualify and reporting it to the Oregon Department of Education by January 13.
Oregon Department of Education Communications Director Marc Siegel said the state’s public schools employed 4,190 special education teachers last school year. The Oregon School Employees Association, the union that represents employees classified as paraeducators, identified a minimum of 2,400 members who would also qualify. If the stipend were divided among just those people, they would receive $1,350 each, but others, such as speech therapists, would likely be added to the mix.
“I think it’s kind of a respectful nod from the state to the work that special education teachers are doing all over Oregon,” said Trevor Spangle, a special education teacher at Crescent Valley High School in Corvallis.
But at the same time, he, like many others who work in special education, said he felt the bonuses wouldn’t really alleviate the state’s problems with recruiting and retaining special education staff.
Oregon faces a notable shortage of special education staff. The Teaching Standards and Practices Commission’s employment dashboard, which is not an exhaustive list of vacancies, lists more than 100 open special education positions in the state. Portland Public Schools’ careers page shows 32 openings, more than three times the number of jobs available in any other subject area.
Kyrsti Sackman, a Beaverton School District paraeducator and president of the local chapter of the Oregon School Employees Association, said her district began the school year with 120 or more paraeducator and special education openings. And as a “traveling” paraeducator filling in for other special education staff in schools across the district, Sackman sees how little her colleagues are pushed to the limit.
“People ask constantly, requesting that I come to their classes. They are very short staffed,” Sackman said. “But there’s always someone else who is understaffed.”
She loves her job, seeing kids brighten when she walks into the room, and advocating for her students and fellow educators through her union work. But he also understands why the district sometimes struggles to fill jobs.
Although Sackman is in her ninth year as a paraeducator in Beaverton, she still brings home about $1,900 a month. He works several jobs just to survive. This month, after more than a year of couch surfing and panhandling, he’s moving into an apartment outside Beaverton; can no longer pay rent within the district.
“I really love the students,” he said. “But I’m getting closer to having to choose between my passion in the world and being a human being who supports neurodiverse students and actually being able to live a comfortable life.”
The bonus seems like a nice gesture, Sackman said. But it doesn’t seem quite enough either.
Jennifer Groth, inclusion educational assistant at Bend Senior High School and another chapter president of the Oregon School Employees Association, agreed. She also cares deeply about her job, but has also suffered scratches and bleeding on the job before. Like Sackman, he works a second job to supplement his income.
Any recognition is a step in the right direction, Groth said, especially for classified staff members like her. But the stipend “is not long-term,” and that is a problem.
Sackman said he believes a pay gap for all special education staff in Oregon would be the long-term solution. Other special education workers said higher staffing levels — not just filling vacancies, but actively hiring more people — would make the work more sustainable.
Special education teacher Alyssa Potasznik said Portland’s Franklin Middle School, where she works, cannot fully support students with varying levels of need with its current staff. He said more teachers and more funding are needed, which would be his top priority over a bonus.
Moira Finnegan, a speech therapist at Franklin, agreed.
“It’s nice that teachers and staff who work in special education are recognized for the hard work they do,” Finnegan said. “But a single stipend doesn’t take us toward the bigger picture of adequately funding K-12 special education services in Oregon.”
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