Stars and Stripes

Some special needs students attending Defense Department schools are being underserved due to staffing shortages and high turnover among special education personnel, the U.S. Government Accountability Office said in a report released Thursday. The problem is exacerbated by rigid staffing formulas used by the Department of Defense Education Activity, or DODEA, which operates the school system. Those formulas, the report said, rely on student headcounts rather than the hours required to adequately serve students, often underestimating staffing needs. The GAO found delays in the delivery of special education services at 44 of DODEA’s 114 overseas schools during the 2022–23 school year. In six of those cases, more than a year passed before services were restored. Both parents and providers told investigators that delays and disruptions in services often harmed students’ academic progress.