How to hire a special education preschool teacher

Special education preschool teacher hiring summary. Here are some key points about hiring special education preschool teachers in the United States:

There are currently 124,229 special education preschool teachers in the US, as well as 64,239 job openings.
Special education preschool teachers are in the highest demand in New York, NY, with 8 current job openings.
The median cost to hire a special education preschool teacher is $1,633.
It takes between 36 and 42 days to fill the average role in the US.
Human Resources use 15% of their expenses on recruitment on average.
On average, it takes around 12 weeks for a new special education preschool teacher to become settled and show total productivity levels at work.

How to hire a special education preschool teacher, step by step

To hire a special education preschool teacher, consider the skills and experience you are looking for in a candidate, allocate a budget for the position, and post and promote the job opening to reach potential candidates. Follow these steps to hire a special education preschool teacher:

Here's a step-by-step special education preschool teacher hiring guide:

Step 1: Identify your hiring needs
Step 2: Create an ideal candidate profile
Step 3: Make a budget
Step 4: Write a special education preschool teacher job description
Step 5: Post your job
Step 6: Interview candidates
Step 7: Send a job offer and onboard your new special education preschool teacher
Step 8: Go through the hiring process checklist

Post a special education preschool teacher job for free, promote it for a fee

Identify your hiring needs

First, determine the employments status of the special education preschool teacher you need to hire. Certain special education preschool teacher roles might require a full-time employee, whereas others can be done by part-time workers or contractors.

Determine employee vs contractor status

Is the person you're thinking of hiring a US citizen or green card holder?

A special education preschool teacher's background is also an important factor in determining whether they'll be a good fit for the position. For example, special education preschool teachers from different industries or fields will have radically different experiences and will bring different viewpoints to the role. You also need to consider the candidate's previous level of experience to make sure they'll be comfortable with the job's level of seniority.

This list shows salaries for various types of special education preschool teachers.

Type of Special Education Preschool Teacher	Description	Hourly rate
Special Education Preschool Teacher	Special education teachers work with students who have a wide range of learning, mental, emotional, and physical disabilities. They adapt general education lessons and teach various subjects, such as reading, writing, and math, to students with mild and moderate disabilities... Show more	$15-33
Teacher Internship	Teaching interns are individuals who assist teachers and educators in the classroom. The interns are instructed to fulfill the tasks set out and provided by the supervisors for them... Show more	$16-32
Teacher	Being a teacher is one of the most passionate professions, among others. Teachers educate, motivate, and guide every generation of learners to prepare them for the real world... Show more	$15-33

Create an ideal candidate profile
Common skills:
- Autism
- Classroom Environment
- IEPs
- Classroom Management
- ABA
- NYS
- Data Collection
- Developmental Delays
- Applied Behavior Analysis
- Developmental Disabilities
- CSE
- Instructional Materials
- General Education
- Behavior Analysis
Check all skills
Responsibilities:
- Work in collaboration with a team of PTs, OTs, and SLPs to achieve educational goals.
- Instruct students with disabilities, including autism, learning disabilities and early childhood delays.
- Work as the lead classroom teacher in a preschool classroom for children with autism and relate disorders.
- Communicate with supervising instructional staff and professional support personnel for the purpose of assisting in evaluating progress and/or implementing IEP objectives.
- Improve students' communication and self-help skills.
- Conduct FBA's and create BIP's as needed.
More special education preschool teacher duties

Make a budget

Including a salary range in your special education preschool teacher job description helps attract top candidates to the position. A special education preschool teacher salary can be affected by several factors, such as geography, experience, seniority, certifications, and the prestige of the hiring company.

For example, the average salary for a special education preschool teacher in Colorado may be lower than in Alaska, and an entry-level special education preschool teacher usually earns less than a senior-level special education preschool teacher. Additionally, a special education preschool teacher with certifications may command a higher salary, and working for a well-known company or start-up may also impact an employee's pay.

Average special education preschool teacher salary

$48,705yearly

$23.42 hourly rate

Entry-level special education preschool teacher salary

$33,000 yearly salary

Updated January 20, 2026

Average special education preschool teacher salary by state

Rank	State	Avg. salary	Hourly rate
1	District of Columbia	$70,133	$34
2	New York	$64,964	$31
3	California	$64,607	$31
4	New Jersey	$60,953	$29
5	Maryland	$57,637	$28
6	Georgia	$56,315	$27
7	New Hampshire	$52,804	$25
8	Florida	$43,137	$21
9	Texas	$39,701	$19
10	Arizona	$39,404	$19
11	Louisiana	$38,909	$19
12	Utah	$38,733	$19
13	Colorado	$38,281	$18
14	Oklahoma	$35,950	$17

Average special education preschool teacher salary by company

Rank	Company	Average salary	Hourly rate	Job openings
1	Baltimore City Public Schools	$66,312	$31.88	9
2	Bilingual Therapies	$62,519	$30.06
3	Newton Public Schools	$61,889	$29.75	12
4	Oxnard Union High School District	$60,814	$29.24	9
5	Weber School District	$60,082	$28.89	14
6	Los Angeles Unified School District	$58,219	$27.99
7	Campbell Union High School District	$57,735	$27.76	22
8	Pacific Rim Christian University	$57,686	$27.73
9	Benicia Unified School District	$56,735	$27.28
10	Cobb County School District	$56,396	$27.11
11	Franklin Pierce University	$56,236	$27.04
12	Montgomery County Public Schools	$55,125	$26.50	11
13	Alameda Unified	$55,039	$26.46
14	Broward County Public Schools	$54,707	$26.30	1
15	Clovis Municipal School District	$54,504	$26.20	7
16	Racker	$53,486	$25.71	10
17	Santa Clara County Office of Education	$53,396	$25.67
18	AHRC New York City Foundation	$53,145	$25.55	11
19	Hartford Public Schools	$52,106	$25.05	27
20	West Covina USD	$51,913	$24.96	6

Writing a special education preschool teacher job description
A special education preschool teacher job description should include a summary of the role, required skills, and a list of responsibilities. It's also good to include a salary range and the first name of the hiring manager. To help get you started, here's an example of a special education preschool teacher job description:
Special education preschool teacher job description example
- BA/MA/MS and New York State Certification in any one of the following areas:
  - Special Education Permanent Certificate
  - Students with Disabilities, Birth to Grade 2
  - Licensed Master Social Worker (LMSW)
- Clean background and criminal record
- In-Person availability (sorry, we are not hiring virtual/teletherapy at this time)
Join our team! All About Kids (AAK) is looking to welcome a new Special Education Itinerant Teacher (SEIT) to our instructional team to provide life skills training, literary skills, and academic enrichment for preschool (CPSE) students with mental and physical disabilities.

AAK educators are passionate, hard-working, and strive to be the positive difference in education and in the lives of each of our students. We are a mission-driven, collaborative, and positive group of educators with years of experience that don't mind pushing the agenda and breaking barriers to ensure our students and community receive the support they need.

Benefits
- Flexible placements and schedules for work/life balance
- Competitive compensation
- Semimonthly pay via direct deposit
- Advanced and expedited electronic onboarding
- Clinical and professional growth opportunities
- Medical, dental, vision available
- Monthly peer meetings
- Free workshops and trainings offered
- Program support and training provided
For over 30 years, All About Kids has been an industry leader in the evaluation and identification of children's development needs and the provision of quality therapy and educational services. AAK is owned and directed by Speech Language Pathologists and we pride ourselves in offering an environment of support and growth to our fellow therapists!

All About Kids is an Equal Opportunity Employer and does not discriminate on the basis of race, religion, color, sex, gender identity, sexual orientation, age, non-disqualifying physical or mental disability, national origin, veteran status, or any other basis covered by appropriate law. All employment in decided based on qualifications, merit, and business need. EOE/M/F/D/V/SO
Post your job
To find the right special education preschool teacher for your business, consider trying out a few different recruiting strategies:
- Consider internal talent. One of the most important sources of talent for any company is its existing workforce.
- Ask for referrals. Reach out to friends, family members, and current employees and ask if they know or have worked with special education preschool teachers they would recommend.
- Recruit at local colleges. Attend job fairs at local colleges to recruit special education preschool teachers who meet your education requirements.
- Social media platforms. LinkedIn, Facebook and Twitter now have more than 3.5 billion users, and you can use social media to reach potential job candidates.
Post your job online:
- Post your special education preschool teacher job on Zippia to find and recruit special education preschool teacher candidates who meet your exact specifications.
- Use field-specific websites.
- Post a job on free websites.
Interview candidates
To successfully recruit special education preschool teachers, your first interview needs to engage with candidates to learn about their interest in the role and experience in the field. You can go into more detail about the company, the role, and the responsibilities during follow-up interviews.
It's also good to ask about candidates' unique skills and talents to see if they match your ideal candidate profile. If you think a candidate is good enough for the next step, you can move on to the technical interview.
The right interview questions can help you assess a candidate's hard skills, behavioral intelligence, and soft skills.
Send a job offer and onboard your new special education preschool teacher
Once you've decided on a perfect special education preschool teacher candidate, it's time to write an offer letter. In addition to salary, it should include benefits and perks available to the employee. Qualified candidates may be considered for other positions, so make sure your offer is competitive. Candidates may wish to negotiate. Once you've settled on the details, formalize your agreement with a contract.
It's equally important to follow up with applicants who don't get the job with an email letting them know that the position has been filled.
To prepare for the new employee's start date, you can create an onboarding schedule and complete any necessary paperwork, such as employee action forms and onboarding documents like I-9 forms, benefits enrollment, and federal and state tax forms. Human Resources should also ensure that a new employee file is created.
Go through the hiring process checklist
- Determine employee type (full-time, part-time, contractor, etc.)
- Submit a job requisition form to the HR department
- Define job responsibilities and requirements
- Establish budget and timeline
- Determine hiring decision makers for the role
- Write job description
- Post job on job boards, company website, etc.
- Promote the job internally
- Process applications through applicant tracking system
- Review resumes and cover letters
- Shortlist candidates for screening
- Hold phone/virtual interview screening with first round of candidates
- Conduct in-person interviews with top candidates from first round
- Score candidates based on weighted criteria (e.g., experience, education, background, cultural fit, skill set, etc.)
- Conduct background checks on top candidates
- Check references of top candidates
- Consult with HR and hiring decision makers on job offer specifics
- Extend offer to top candidate(s)
- Receive formal job offer acceptance and signed employment contract
- Inform other candidates that the position has been filled
- Set and communicate onboarding schedule to new hire(s)
- Complete new hire paperwork (i9, benefits enrollment, tax forms, etc.)
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How much does it cost to hire a special education preschool teacher?

Hiring a special education preschool teacher comes with both the one-time cost per hire and ongoing costs. The cost of recruiting special education preschool teachers involves promoting the job and spending time conducting interviews. Ongoing costs include employee salary, training, benefits, insurance, and equipment. It is essential to consider the cost of special education preschool teacher recruiting as well the ongoing costs of maintaining the new employee.

The median annual salary for special education preschool teachers is $48,705 in the US. However, the cost of special education preschool teacher hiring can vary a lot depending on location. Additionally, hiring a special education preschool teacher for contract work or on a per-project basis typically costs between $15 and $33 an hour.

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Special Education Preschool Teacher
How to hire a Special Education Preschool Teacher

Updated January 20, 2026

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How to hire a special education preschool teacher