1. Article XIV (Sections 1, 2 and 11) of the Philippine Constitution and other legal documents, the most recent of which is Republic Act 7277 otherwise known as the œMagna Carta for Disabled Persons  have enunciated that the children with special needs have the right to education, equality of opportunity and participation in society. The recent 1996-1997 DECS statistics on enrolment of children with special needs points out that only 90,000 or 2% of the targeted 4 million children with special needs have been served in schools.

2. To expand and strengthen the institutionalization of SPED Program in all schools as contained in DECS Order No. 26, s. 1997, the salary grades for SPED teachers and special school principals as contained in Republic Act No. 6758 (An Act Prescribing a Revised Compensation and Position Classification System in the Government and for Other Purposes) shall be implemented. Regional Directors shall submit recommendation to the Chief of the Management Division, Financial Management Service, DECS for reclassification of regular teacher and regular school principal items to SPED teacher and special school principal items for those actually involved in providing educational services to children with special needs subject to established guidelines on availability of funds. Hence, the reclassification of items for SPED teachers and principals shall be implemented on staggered basis.

3. The guidelines for the reclassification of regular teacher and regular principal items to SPED Teacher and special school principal items respectively including the pertinent papers and documents needed are found in Inclosure No. 1.

4. Pertinent papers and documents of SPED Teachers and Special School Principals shall be submitted to the Secretary of Education, Culture and Sports thru Channels.

5. Immediate dissemination and compliance to this Order is desired.

Adopted: 21 Jan. 1998

(SGD.) RICARDO T. GLORIA
Secretary

Guidelines for the Reclassification of Regular Teacher and Principal Items to SPED Teacher and Special School Principal Items

A. SPED Teacher

An elementary grades teacher who underwent formal training in Special Education at the national, regional and division level and who is presently teaching children with special needs shall be considered as a SPED teacher. As a SPED teacher, he/she provides educational services to any of the children with special needs, namely, the gifted or fast learners, the mentally retarded, the visually impaired, the hearing impaired, the learning disabled, the orthopedically handicapped, the chronically ill, the autistic children and those with behavior problems assigned in special schools, Special Education (SPED) Centers and in regular schools with SPED programs.

1. Qualification Standards

1.1  SPED TEACHER (Grade 13)

EDUCATION

The teacher must be a Bachelor ™s degree in Education with specialization in special education or has a minimum of 18 units of SPED at the graduate level. The one month summer training in SPED conducted at the Philippine Normal University, the University of the Philippines, the YMCA Open College, Manila and other recognized institutions through the DECS DISP or other NGO funding agencies shall be given a credit of 9 units.

ELIGIBILITY

The teacher must possess the appropriate civil service eligibility.

EXPERIENCE

The teacher must have at least 3 years experience in providing educational services to children with special needs.

PERFORMANCE RATING

The teacher must have a Very Satisfactory performance in the last three years.

1.2  SPED TEACHER (Grade 14)

To qualify as SPED Teacher II, he/she must have 38 units in Special Education at the masteral level.

1.3  SPED TEACHER III (Grade 15)

To qualify as SPED Teacher III he/she must be an MA in SPED or its equivalent.

B. SPECIAL SCHOOL PRINCIPAL

A principal of a special education (SPED) center/school which offers educational services to the gifted or fast learners, the mentally retarded, the visually impaired, the hearing impaired, the learning disabled, the orthopedically handicapped, the chronically ill, the autistic children and those with behavior problems shall be reclassified as Special School Principal.

1.  Qualification Standards

1.1  SPECIAL SCHOOL PRINCIPAL I (Grade 18)

EDUCATION AND EXPERIENCE

He/she must have professional training in the organization, administration and supervision in special education and teaching experience in the education of children with special needs.

NUMBER OF TEACHERS

He/she must have a minimum number of 10 to 25 SPED teachers under his/her supervision.

1.2  SPECIAL SCHOOL PRINCIPAL (Grade 19)

NUMBER OF TEACHERS

For Special School Principal I to qualify as Special School Principal II, he/she must have at least 50 SPED teachers under his/her supervision.

PERTINENT PAPERS/DOCUMENTS TO BE SUBMITTED

A.  For SPED Teachers

1. Transcript of Records/Certificates of Participation/Attendance in Trainings/ Conferences/Workshops in SPED or Certification that the teacher has the required number of units in SPED issued by the training institution/agency.

2. Rating Card for the Civil Service Eligibility.

3. Certification of the Principal that the teacher has at least three (3) years experience in teaching any of the categories of children with special needs.

4. Certification of the Principal that the teacher has Very Satisfactory rating for the last three (3) years.

B.  For the Special School/SPED Center Principal

1. Transcript of Records/Certification that the Principal was trained in the Organization, Administration and Supervision in SPED by the training institution/agency.

2. Certification by the Schools Division Superintendent that the principal has experienced teaching any of the categories of children with special needs.

3. List of SPED Teachers under his/her supervision certified by the Schools Division Superintendent.