(Michigan) SPED teacher shortage "due to increase in children being diagnosed with autism"

Feb 18, 2026, Chalkbeat: Vitti seeks ways to boost certification of special education teachers 

https://www.chalkbeat.org/detroit/2026/02/18/michigan-nikolai-vitti-proposes-ways-to-get-more-special-ed-teachers-certified/ 

As the Detroit school district continues to experience special education teacher shortages, its superintendent is proposing ways for more teachers to enter the field.

Nikolai Vitti, superintendent of Detroit Public Schools Community District, said due to the increase in children being diagnosed with autism statewide, he wants the Michigan Department of Education, or MDE, to expand access to special education programs and offer incentives to bring in more people to the profession.

“That’s the challenge we’re facing here [in DPSCD], but this is a statewide challenge,” Vitti said during a school board meeting last month. “There’s just so few teachers that are generally going into the profession, but especially special education. And then adding that special education endorsement just creates another barrier.”

Currently, an aspiring teacher needs a bachelor’s degree in general education and a special credential called an endorsement. If they want to teach children with a specific disorder, like autism spectrum disorder, or ASD, the person needs an additional endorsement.

Michigan has seen statewide teacher shortages for at least the last 15 years as educators leave the field at an unsustainable rate. This has forced schools to rely on those with temporary or interim credentials, according to a report released last month from the Education Policy Innovation Collaborative at Michigan State University. That is especially true for special education, where vacancy rates are nearly double the statewide average.

More than 5% of all special education full-time positions were vacant in the fall of 2024, far exceeding the statewide vacancy rate of 2.8%.

Across much of the state, the lack of staffing has resulted in teachers with no special education credentials instructing students with disabilities. . . .

The number of children in Michigan being diagnosed with autism is also rising. According to a 2024 report from the Michigan Department of Health and Human Services, 25,315 Medicaid-eligible children – birth through 18 years – were evaluated or reevaluated as having a diagnosis of autism spectrum disorder in 2022. The following year, 27,449 children were evaluated or reevaluated, a less than 1% increase. Meanwhile, the Michigan Department of Education reported that 25,147 of all children enrolled in grades K-12 during the 2022-23 school year were assigned autism spectrum disorder eligibility.