We don't get any extra money or assistance in my state either.
Wow. Maybe it varies place to place. Of course this was several years back too. The entire system is such a mess. The schools are falling apart, teachers are abusing and/or molesting the kids, they’re going to class in trailers & a growing number of the kids can’t even speak English. They vote in the school bonds & it’s never enough. I wish I knew the answer. I expect it to get a lot worse.
“We don’t get any extra money or assistance in my state either.”
In Oklahoma, special ed teachers get a little extra money for being special ed teachers. 5% extra. We are available to all the teachers in our school for consultation, and to help them figure out how to deal with their students. Gen ed teachers get their normal salary, and nothing else, unless they are National Board Certified.
My school has nearly 600 kids, I’ve got 16 who are in lab with me for between 1 and 4 hours a day, 1 who is on consult (his teacher asks for help if she needs it), and several who are in for speech/language help only. The speech/language kids have speech-language pathologists who work with them, some of them in my room. I’ve also got about 30 kids in the process of being evaluated for special education. This is a small neighborhood elementary school.