A chronic shortage of special education teachers in Maryland schools is compounding the strain of shrunken budgets and forcing schools to stretch staff to meet the needs of some students.

In Montgomery County, about 18 special education positions remain unfilled. Prince George’s County is going without 30 teachers even after allotting about 100 fewer positions than originally proposed. Both districts have many more vacancies in speech and occupational therapy.  Together, the districts have nearly 50,000 students with special needs.