The Great Departure

It’s a moment every school principal dreads. After a busy day of putting out fires, you sit down to tackle your overflowing inbox. The top email makes you freeze: "My Two-Week Notice." It's from the special education teacher you hired less than a year ago. It’s not a complete surprise— you've watched the young teacher’s cheerful smile gradually fade every week since September, replaced by an expression of mounting panic. “What do I do now?” you wonder. “Our students still need IEP services. How will the already overwhelmed team handle the extra workload? And how will I find a replacement when it took months - no, years - to find this one?"

Unfortunately, this situation is all too common. The National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) reports that one-third of all public schools report understaffing in their special education programs. (NCES School Pulse Panel, 2024). The primary cause of this shortage is retention. Monica Sager and Susanti Sarkar report that special education teachers are 2.5 times more likely to leave their positions compared to their general education counterparts. (Medill News Service, Feb 11, 2023). But why are so many teachers leaving a profession they spent years preparing for? One major reason: Burnout.

Burnout is driving Special Education teachers out of classrooms

Stress levels of special educators are among the highest in the workforce. High caseloads, lack of administrative support, and increasing demands related to compliance and paperwork contribute to a work environment that many find unsustainable. So they leave, often within the first few years of teaching. The consequences of this attrition are severe—students with disabilities lose experienced educators, administrators face unending staffing shortages, and remaining teachers are burdened with even heavier workloads. NCES reports that over 70% of public schools reported difficulty filling vacant special education teaching positions. In fact, for every three special education teachers that leave public schools every year, only two newly trained teachers enter the market to replace them. As schools scramble to fill vacancies, they often rely on underqualified or temporary hires, perpetuating the cycle of burnout and turnover.

Graph 1: Source: National Center for Education Statistics (NCES) 2024 School Pulse Panel.

Factors that contribute to burnout in Special Education

We spoke with many special education teachers about what causes them stress in their jobs. Several themes emerged:

• Unmanageable Workloads: Special education teachers juggle lesson planning, individualized instruction, and extensive documentation requirements for Individualized Education Programs (IEPs). The result is that teachers often feel they spend more time working through piles of paperwork than doing what drew them to the field to begin with - teaching. One found special education teachers spend only about 35% of their time on direct instruction, with the rest consumed by administrative tasks.

Graph 2: Source: Bettini, E., Jones, N., Brownell, M., Conroy, M., Park, Y., Leite, W., Crockett, J., & Benedict, A. (2017). Workload Manageability Among Novice Special and General Educators: Relationships With Emotional Exhaustion and Career Intentions. Remedial and Special Education, 38(4), 246-256.

• Lack of Support and Resources: Many special education teachers report feeling isolated, without adequate instructional materials or professional development opportunities. They are often placed in roles without clear definitions or expectations, leading to role confusion and frustration.

  
  

• Emotional and Physical Exhaustion: A 2022 Gallup poll found that more than four in 10 K-12 workers in the U.S. (44%) say they "always" or "very often" feel burned out at work, outpacing all other industries nationally. (Gallup, June 13, 2022). This trend is especially acute for special educators, who frequently work with students who have significant behavioral and academic challenges. Without sufficient on-the-job training in effective teaching practices and classroom management strategies, teachers start to become emotionally exhausted, a leading indicator of burnout.

So what can districts do about this?

So what can districts do? While principals and administrators are often constrained in terms of salary incentives or hiring more staff to reduce workloads, they can try to address the administrative burden placed on teachers. We recommend the following steps to provide more support for teachers:

1. Streamline IEP Paperwork – Teachers spend an overwhelming amount of time on compliance documentation. While hiring additional staff may not be feasible, administrators can often find room in the budget for digital tools and centralized IEP systems to help alleviate this burden, freeing teachers to focus more on instruction.

   
   

2. Invest in Professional Development and Mentorship – Districts can reduce isolation among new special education teachers by expanding professional development beyond traditional training to include mentorship and peer collaboration. The most valuable professional development happens when teachers are in a room together, problem-solving and sharing strategies. Structured mentorship, peer cohorts, and collaborative spaces create opportunities for teachers to grow, support one another, and build lasting professional networks.

   
   

3. Reevaluate Caseload Assignments – Ensuring that workloads are distributed more equitably can prevent burnout and make the profession more sustainable. Schools should ensure teachers have enough planning time and support to meet student needs.

   
   

4. Advocate for Better Policy – The Policy Analysis for California Education (PACE) reports that systemic inefficiencies and lack of streamlined policies further exacerbate burnout. It emphasizes the need for policymakers to reduce redundant reporting, implement better data management systems, and provide clear, consistent guidelines for special education professionals. Partnering with independent, nonpartisan research centers like PACE can uncover long-term solutions. 

Burnout in special education is a serious challenge, but it’s not unsolvable. By cutting down on administrative overload, strengthening support systems, and recognizing what special educators truly need, we can help more teachers stay in the classroom. When teachers feel valued and supported, they can focus on what matters most—helping their students succeed.