A resolution recognizing the work and importance of special education teachers.

Whereas, in 1972, the Supreme Court ruled that children with disabilities have the same right to receive a quality education in the public schools as their nondisabled peers and, in 1975, the Congress passed Public Law 94–142 guaranteeing students with disabilities the right to a free appropriate public education;

Whereas, according to the Department of Education, approximately 6,600,000 children (roughly 13 percent of all school-aged children) receive special education services;

Whereas there are over 370,000 highly qualified special education teachers in the United States;

Whereas the work of special education teachers requires special education teachers to be able to interact and teach students with specific learning disabilities, hearing impairments, speech or language impairments, orthopedic impairments, visual impairments, autism, combined deafness and blindness, traumatic brain injury, and other health impairments;

Whereas special education teachers—

Whereas special education teachers must have the ability to interact and coordinate with a child’s parents or legal guardians, social workers, school psychologists, occupational and physical therapists, and school administrators, as well as other educators to provide the best quality education for their students;

Whereas special education teachers help to develop an individualized education program for every special education student based on the needs and abilities of the student; and

Whereas special education teachers dedicate themselves to preparing special education students for success in school and beyond: Now, therefore, be it