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Guam education officials warn of unsustainable SPED aid shortfall and suggest local funding, task force
Summary
GDOE special-education leaders told a legislative oversight committee that a growing number of individualized education program (IEP)–mandated 1-to-1 aids and other specialized staff are unfunded, leaving schools to scramble for coverage and pushing the system toward noncompliance without new local resources.
Assistant Superintendent for Special Education Tom Rabata told the Committee on Education, Libraries and Public Broadcasting on Nov. 14 that Guam’s special-education division faces a widening staffing and funding gap that is jeopardizing consistent delivery of IEP services. “For the last 3 years, school teams have been using internal resources at the school level to ensure the service is provided,” Rabata said. “This has overtaxed the current system.”
Rabata listed current vacancies and needs, including more than 100 disability aids (he cited 112 then later said the number may be about 130), shortages of speech-language pathologists, school psychologists, occupational therapists and behavior-support staff. He said most disability-aid positions are federally funded through the Part B grant—about $18,000,000 per year—but that…
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