The Supply/Demand Puzzle

Abstract

; This article is a broad and introductory overview of personnel supply/demand issues in special education. One premise is that matters of quality (competence, qualifications) interlock with matters of quantity (numbers) of personnel, and that many variables affect both personnel quality and quantity. Selected intervening variables are reviewed. We suggest that many complications in personnel supplyldemand are of relatively recent origin, and, thus, traditional policies and strategies for the development, recruitment, and retention of personnel may no longer be sufficient. Although national aggregate data are presented in order to clarify the status of special education supply/demand, it is emphasized that these problems are much more relevant as local issues than as statistical issues, and that shortages and causative factors occur in widely varying dimensions and degrees across states and districts. It is, therefore, recommended that supply/demand imbalances should be more clearly understood and cooperatively addressed at the local level, which is where these problems originate and where they can be solved. In order to plan solutions, however, it is necessary to achieve a vision of the directions special education should be taking as the 20th century draws to a close.