In June 2024, the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO) released a major report on special education that speaks directly to what school and district leaders have been experiencing for years: persistent staffing shortages, uneven access to key professionals, and limited data that makes it difficult to understand where resource gaps are most severe.
For organizations like TinyEYE—supporting schools with online therapy services—the report is especially relevant because it highlights both the scale of the need and the operational realities that can prevent students with disabilities from receiving timely, high-quality services.
Why this report matters now
During the 2021–22 school year, about 7.3 million children ages 3 through 21 received special education and related services under the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act (IDEA). GAO notes this is a 12% increase compared with 2009–10. IDEA’s core promise is a free appropriate public education (FAPE), delivered through an individualized education program (IEP) tailored to each student’s needs.
However, the report emphasizes that outcomes for students with disabilities remain inequitable in many places. The Department of Education has also pointed to “troubling differences” in experiences and opportunities for students with disabilities, including gaps in access to advanced coursework and overrepresentation in discipline.
Key obstacles: staffing shortages are the headline, but not the whole story
Across all 32 entities GAO visited (including 16 school districts), every single one identified personnel shortages as a key obstacle to educating students with disabilities. The shortages extend beyond special education teachers to many roles that are essential to implementing IEPs and delivering related services.
GAO’s interviews found reported shortages in roles such as:
- Special education teachers (reported by all 16 districts)
- Speech-language pathologists (15 of 16 districts)
- Paraeducators (13 of 16 districts)
- Occupational therapists (12 of 16 districts)
- School psychologists (11 of 16 districts)
- Physical therapists, interpreters, behavioral staff, nurses, substitute teachers, and transportation staff
Importantly, GAO describes a “snowball effect” where shortages interact with other constraints and compound service delivery problems. In addition to staffing, districts frequently cited:
- Insufficient time for professional development (15 of 16 districts)
- Challenges communicating with parents (15 of 16 districts), including language access barriers
- Insufficient collaboration between general and special education staff (12 of 16 districts)
What shortages look like in practice: quality, delays, and missed services
GAO’s findings are direct: officials from 14 of 16 districts reported problems providing special education services to some students. The reported impacts included:
- Lower-quality services, including reliance on staff who are not fully qualified or who are stretched too thin to deliver instruction and therapy at the intended intensity
- Delayed services, such as postponed evaluations or make-up services pushed into summer
- Services not provided at all, when vacancies mean there is no one available to implement parts of an IEP
These are not minor operational inconveniences. They strike at the heart of IDEA’s promise and can create significant educational and functional consequences for students.
A critical insight: many students attend schools without key support personnel
Beyond vacancies, GAO’s analysis of federal data shows that many students with disabilities attend schools that lack personnel commonly used to support student needs. Using the Department of Education’s Civil Rights Data Collection (2020–21), GAO found that:
- 44% of students with disabilities attended a school with no school psychologist (0 FTE reported)
- 58% attended a school with no social worker
- 26% attended a school with no nurse
- 16% attended a school with no counselor
And only about 20% of students with disabilities attended a school that had all four roles (social worker, psychologist, nurse, and counselor). This matters because these professionals are often central to evaluations, mental health supports, behavior planning, attendance and family engagement supports, and crisis response—functions that directly affect a student’s ability to access instruction.
Resource distribution varies widely by state—and may vary even more within districts
GAO also found substantial variation across states in student-to-staff ratios. For example, the ratio of students with disabilities to special education teachers ranged from about 9:1 in some places to 30:1 in others (using IDEA Section 618 staffing data for 2021–22).
But GAO’s most consequential point may be this: while research suggests resources are often distributed unequally across schools within the same district, much of the available data is not reported at the school level. That makes it difficult to answer practical questions district leaders face every day, such as:
- Which schools have the highest unmet related service needs?
- Where are caseloads unsustainably high?
- Which student groups are most affected by staffing gaps?
- Are contracted services improving access, or simply shifting costs?
Why data gaps are not just a reporting issue—they are a management issue
GAO concludes that the Department of Education cannot fully assess the availability and distribution of special education resources because of limitations in what it can collect and publish, especially at school and district levels. Education officials told GAO they generally lack statutory authority to collect certain school-level and district-level data.
GAO recommends that Congress consider granting authority for Education to collect school- and district-level data (where feasible) on special education and related resources. Examples GAO cites include:
- Counts of students receiving specific related services (e.g., speech therapy, occupational therapy, physical therapy)
- Counts of staff delivering special education and related services (including special education teachers and paraeducators)
- Expenditures tied to special education services (including staffing compensation, transportation, technology, and professional development)
For school systems, better data is not merely compliance-oriented. It enables better forecasting, smarter contracting decisions, clearer equity analyses, and more targeted recruitment and retention strategies.
What mitigation strategies are districts using—and what can be strengthened
GAO documents several strategies states and districts are using to reduce the impact of shortages and improve service delivery. These include:
- Growing the pipeline through financial incentives, paid residency-style pathways, and “grow-your-own” programs for paraeducators
- Mentorship and retention programs for early-career special education staff
- Expanded professional development access, including online training options
- Parent support resources such as facilitated IEP meetings and help desks
- Regional coordination models that share specialized staff and resources across districts
These approaches can be powerful, but they typically take time. Meanwhile, students still need services now, and districts still need workable staffing models that can flex with vacancies, leaves, and caseload surges.
Where online therapy services fit: stabilizing access while districts rebuild capacity
The GAO report includes examples of districts contracting for services when they cannot hire directly—especially for related service providers such as speech-language pathologists. It also notes concerns about cost and, in some cases, concerns that virtual-only service models may not meet every student’s needs as well as in-person services would.
That nuance is important. Virtual therapy is not a universal replacement for in-person services. But the report makes clear that many districts are already facing situations where students experience delays or missed services entirely. In that context, a well-implemented online therapy program can be a practical tool to protect service continuity and reduce backlog.
From a school operations perspective, online therapy models can help districts:
- Fill hard-to-recruit roles (especially in rural areas or specialized disciplines)
- Reduce service delays by increasing scheduling flexibility and coverage
- Support compliance efforts by helping ensure IEP services are delivered consistently
- Provide continuity during turnover or extended vacancies
- Complement in-person teams by handling overflow caseloads or specific service blocks
For TinyEYE and similar providers, the GAO report reinforces a central market reality: the demand for related services is increasing, staffing pipelines are strained, and districts need scalable options that maintain quality and documentation standards while supporting student outcomes.
Looking ahead: the strategic opportunity for districts
GAO’s report ultimately points to two parallel needs:
- Immediate capacity solutions that help students receive services without interruption
- Long-term system improvements in staffing pipelines, retention, and data visibility so resources can be allocated more equitably
District leaders can use the report as a framework for internal planning discussions—particularly around staffing models, service delivery options, and what data is needed locally (even before federal collection changes) to understand school-by-school capacity and gaps.
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