In Hawaii, hiring qualified special education teachers became a lot easier after schools started offering a $10,000 pay bump.

When schools can't find a licensed special education teacher, they hire people who are willing to do the job, but lack the training. It's a practice that concerns some special education experts.

The Indiana State Board of Education approved a new temporary, special education teaching license designed to help schools address the special education teacher shortage.

The Indiana Senate voted 0-50 this week to kill a piece of legislation that would have changed the way special education disputes between families and schools are resolved.

A WFYI investigation found that schools often pressure parents into signing nondisclosure agreements, or NDAs, as a condition of a special education settlement. Advocates say NDAs prevent parents from talking to other parents of children with disabilities about their experience. And it leaves parents in fear that a school district may take legal action against them for a perceived violation of the clause.

Legislation that would change the way disputes between schools and families over special education services are resolved is gaining support from Indiana lawmakers.

Indiana will spend $2 million to help fully license special education teachers by offering scholarships for required training and streamlining required coursework.

As schools scrambled to deliver special education services in an online format during the early months of the pandemic, students with disabilities faced unique challenges. But many special education students lost more than classroom time and educational services; they also lost social opportunities.

The WFYI Education Desk is committed to special education coverage. As part of our reporting, we want to highlight and explain common challenges families face as they navigate the special education system in Indiana. Here's a digital map that follows the often complicated and confusing process that three Indiana families of students with disabilities went through.

Indiana is scrambling to correct a longstanding violation of the federal Individuals with Disabilities Education Act, and it plans to stop issuing emergency permits for special education teachers in less than nine months.