To Fill Special Ed Staffing Gaps, Nonprofit Looks To Parents Already In School Buildings

Ladders of Opportunity, a statewide Illinois nonprofit, has trained parents with at least 100 volunteer hours in schools to become licensed paraprofessionals; Maria Johnson, a 53-year-old parent volunteer, completed the program in seven months and was hired as a special education classroom assistant at Benjamin E. Mays Academy in Chicago. The program addresses chronic paraprofessional shortages across Illinois schools.

The program is relatively new and reported on one successful case; outcomes across the broader program are not detailed.