Special needs education for students with disabilities in Ontario is in crisis. However, the solution may not simply be more money or more oversight. A recent report published by the Office of the Auditor General of Ontario detailed troubling findings on special needs education within the province, including students with special needs sometimes being sent home, or asked to stay home, without schools tracking the frequency of incidents and context. The report’s findings and recommendations have been welcomed by many who have seen these problems play out in real time. A common response centres on the call for more funding and more oversight to address the problems identified. Given that school boards generally spend more on special education than allocated, increased funding could seem a logical solution. Also, given the apparent lack of adherence to some current rules, a call for tightened guidance could appear appropriate. However, while both funding and oversight could play a role in improvement, both miss an essential aspect of education. In the same way that passengers on a plane are flown by pilots, special education supports and services are planned, delivered and evaluated by classroom teachers in conjunction with other educators. These supports and services enable educational access, opportunity and growth for the over 350,000 students with special education needs in Ontario. This is to say: Special education supports and services happen because teachers make them happen. And these teachers, like all professionals, require adequate training and support to grow and thrive in the job. What the report detailedOntario’s Auditor General report also named other key issues related to special needs education, such as: insufficient individualized education goals (i.e., the core of special education programming for individual students); long wait lists for assessment and missing support personnel;opacity in the most critical educational decision-making;a lack of parent engagement, and other concerns. Beyond the audit report, issues with special education delivery have been a regular occurrence in the news, including stories about seclusion and restraint among other safety concerns and unexpected program closures. Tensions between expectations and realities of educational supports that are supposed to be “special” and tailored for students with unique learning needs are not new. Toward inclusive educationSpecial education has evolved since its formal inception in Ontario in the 1980s. During this era and beforehand, students with disabilities received education and care outside of the general education classroom, sometimes in separate schools or institutional settings. Several waves of change around disability conception and advocacy for inclusive models of education in the following decades resulted in an increased number of students with disabilities accessing education alongside their peers without disabilities, in what are most often referred to as inclusive settings. Research points to several benefits of these inclusive settings for students with disabilities, including higher learning expectations and greater achievement. However, the shift away from exclusionary environments requires a shift in thinking and practice for teachers.The focus on teacher readiness for supporting students with special education needs has been both a national and global commitment, as illustrated by Canada joining over 190 countries in ratifying the United Nations Convention on The Rights of Persons with Disabilities. In addition to a broad focus on improving conditions for individuals with disabilities across their lifespan, the convention includes a specific commitment to educational access in inclusive settings and explicitly calls for training teachers to support students with disabilities. How are teachers trainedLike health care, education in Canada falls under provincial and territorial jurisdiction. This includes stipulating teacher responsibilities and training as well as legislation and policy related to special education.In terms of training people to become teachers, some provinces like Québec require a four-year Bachelor of Education (BEd) program. Others, like Ontario and New Brunswick, have offered one to two-year post-undergraduate BEd programs, as well as concurrent programs that blend a BEd with another university degree. Similarly, requirements for specific roles in special education vary across the country. Ontario recently ordered a decrease in the amount of time it takes to complete teacher training from a four-term, post-undergraduate program (often two full years) to three terms, or 12 months. Read more: Being taught by people who know stuff instead of prepared teachers risks our children’s futures Research on Ontario’s teacher training programs conducted by colleagues and I found very low levels of special education-related content in required coursework, especially when compared to the importance of the topic. This research illustrates the nominal value of the special education-related content currently in Ontario teacher training programs. This, in conjunction with the province’s new mandate to delete an entire terms’ worth of courses, is bound to make the lack of appropriate teacher training to support students with disabilities worse. Systematic issues and classroomsSystematic issues such as assessment wait lists, missing support personnel and school exclusion documentation may require broad attention at the school board and ministry levels. However, the core of special education — including setting educational goals, engaging parents and making careful and inclusive decisions — is ultimately driven by teachers. Like all professionals, teachers continue to learn and develop throughout their careers. But it is critical that they have a solid foundation of confidence, knowledge and skills in their essential tasks to support students with disabilities the moment that they receive teacher certification. Read more: Children on individual education plans: What parents need to know, and 4 questions they should ask While investing more money and creating clearer guidelines could play a hand in improvements around the edges, improving special education in Ontario should begin with a critical look at teacher training. The research is clear on the link between sufficient content and experiences in teacher training and increased levels of comfort and ability in supporting students with disabilities. And more importantly, students of these teachers have better outcomes.The author does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and have disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.