CUSD Special Educators Organizing for Solutions

Posted November 3, 2026

CUSD special education teachers serve some of our district’s most vulnerable students. Several special educators from across the district have been meeting to better understand the common issues they face throughout CUSD and to work on solutions together. 

So far, they’ve identified these concerns:

• Inconsistent IEP scheduling: Some sites and programs are told IEP meetings must be held after school because there’s no money for substitutes. Other sites hold them during the school day.
  
• Instructional aide (IA) staffing and support: IAs are often pulled from classrooms even though staffing formulas say they should be there, so teachers don’t get the support they need. Some administrators treat IAs as “just a body” instead of skilled professionals. Low pay and benefits add to shortages and give IAs little reason to see the job as a career.
  
• Program changes made without input: A preschool SDC program was turned into a pilot program inside a general education classroom without enough transparency or planning. More broadly, the district often makes decisions without enough input from teachers or site administrators.
  
• Gaps between program levels: Support falls short between RSP, FLS and Extensive Needs. Students who don’t fit neatly into one of these have no good placement option.
  
• Uncompensated workload: Teachers have covered other classes without getting coverage pay or prep time.

Join us

Next meeting: Thursday, November 12, 5–6 pm.

The group meets regularly. If you’re a SPED educator and want to join, contact Nancy Welch at nancymwelch16@gmail.com for details and upcoming meeting dates.