Chico State’s School of Education has received federal funding to train new teachers to help students with moderate to severe disabilities.

The Department of Education’s Office of Special Education and Rehabilitative Services awarded Chico State a five year grant, worth $1.2 million, to educate future teachers about working with K-12 students with disabilities.

The Northern California Collaboration for Low Incidence Personnel Preparation, the project that will help facilitate the teachers’ training, will receive $249,999 through the grant this year, according to a Chico State press release.

The grant will help deal with too few qualified teachers available to educate students with disabilities and a growing number of students with mental disorders, according to the release.

“There are two things that are important to note,” said Joe Wills, director of public affairs. “Teachers are important for kids with disabilities, we don’t have people who can move from school district to school district. And this grant provides a higher number of teachers going to work with a higher number of students.”

These teachers, once trained, would allow schools to offer disabled students separate classes to address their educational needs, Wills said.

Nathan Lehmann can be reached at [email protected] or @theorion_news on Twitter.