SBCSS Receives Special Education Teachers Local Solutions Grant

San Bernardino, CA – San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools — in collaboration with Colton Joint Unified School District, San Bernardino City Unified and University of California, Riverside, Graduate School of Education — has received a $400,000 annual grant from the Commission on Teacher Credentialing to help alleviate the shortage of special education teachers.

“Like so many districts and counties across the state, we have a critical shortage of credentialed special education teachers. Receiving this grant will help County Schools in our efforts to attract and maintain special education teachers to better serve our students,” County Superintendent Ted Alejandre said.

The grant program will be used to recruit, prepare, develop support and retain special education teachers. Those efforts may include such practices as teacher service scholarships, helping alleviate student debt payments, tuition assistance for candidates seeking an education specialist credential and signing bonuses for newly credential teachers in special education.

The grant also can help support mentors for existing special education teachers, fostering professional learning communities and creating teacher career pathways.

The funds, which are subject to annual review and availability of state resources, are allocated through June 2023

The San Bernardino County Superintendent of Schools serves as an intermediate service agency between the California Department of Education and the 33 K-12 school districts in the county. The office works in collaboration with school districts, other agencies, families and the community at-large to ensure success for the 403,000 K-12 students in San Bernardino County.