Building & Sustaining Your Special Education Workforce

What You’ll Learn in This Webinar:

• The scope of the educator shortage and how it impacts special education and student services.
• Short-term strategies for immediate relief, including licensing flexibility, incentives, and support for current staff.
• Intermediate strategies for building stability, such as grow-your-own programs, university-school partnerships, mentoring, and diversity-focused recruitment.
• Long-term systemic solutions that address policy, funding, and workforce equity for lasting impact.
• Innovative practices, exemplar models, and funding flexibilities that districts can leverage right now.

About the Presenter

Laurie VanderPloeg has been a champion for students with disabilities at all levels of education. She served as Director of the Office of Special Education Programs (OSEP) in the U.S. Department of Education. Prior to joining the department, she had served as President of the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) and the Council of Administrators of Special Education. Simultaneously, she served as the Special Education Director for the Kent Intermediate School District (Kent ISD) and spent many years as a special education teacher, an adjunct professor at Grand Valley State University in the special education administration program and is a parent of an adult with disabilities.

Laurie graduated from Grand Valley State University with a master’s in special education administration and a bachelor’s degree from Grand Valley State College. She holds administrative approvals as both supervisor and director of special education and certification in learning disabilities, cognitive impairment, emotional impairment, and K–8 regular education.