integrated into their classrooms. In north- ern boards, the reality is three-grade splits in a class with special education support that may be shared between school sites that are an hour apart. Here, the absence of one staff member
or addition of one or two new students in a small school can quickly shiſt the dynamics of a classroom. Several schools face signifi- cant staffing shortages on a daily basis, while permanent job postings at the most remote school sites oſten have no applicants. Daily fail-to-fills cause classroom teachers to shiſt quickly to Plan B when intervention support is pulled while the special education resource teacher (SERT) covers French as a Second Language classes or when the educational as- sistant (EA) support has been reassigned to assist a student in another room. Te ripple effects of daily disruptions are felt by all. Research shows that when implemented
well, inclusive education is the best option for most students with special education needs. But without proper funding and staffing, the practical application of inclusive education is oſten at odds with current structures of our schools, leaving many educators feeling overwhelmed and many students under- served. Te impact of our northern geogra- phy and the significant limitations in human resources simply have not been accounted for in the current government’s budget lines.
STAFFING SHORTAGES: A CRITICAL BARRIER ACROSS THE PROVINCE
As schools struggle to meet current student needs, statistics show the number of learners in Ontario who are identified as having spe- cial education needs is continuing to rise. In 2012-13, the number of students in Ontario receiving special education programs or ser- vices was 331,532, or 16.3 per cent. By 2021- 22, this number had increased to 352,672 (17.4 per cent). Te 2023-24 results of People for Educa-
tion’s annual survey show that 94 per cent of elementary schools have a special education teacher, either full or part-time, a decrease from 100 per cent in 2019-20. A flawed fund- ing model, combined with challenges in re- cruiting and retaining specialist teachers and support personnel, is significantly impacting our education system, with nearly half of elementary schools reporting shortages of educational assistants every day. Staffing shortages lead to disruptions in
student programming as SERTs are moved to cover for classroom teachers and EAs, which disrupts their regular programming, while
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