AUGUSTA — Maine teachers who work with special-needs children but don’t have full certification could be eligible for scholarships that would fund much of the course work for full certification.

The Maine Department of Education announced Wednesday it’s accepting applications from currently employed special education teachers with conditional, transitional and targeted-needs certificates. The scholarships will pay for tuition, books and fees for course work completed through the University of Maine System.

The funds are available through the federal State Personnel Development Grant recently awarded to the Maine Department of Education. The grant seeks to boost the percentage of highly qualified special education personnel working in Maine schools.

Lewiston School Superintendent Bill Webster said the scholarship help is needed.

“The pool of qualified special education teachers has never been as large as the need,” he said. “This program has great potential to help local school districts fill this gap.”

According to the Maine Department of Education, one of eight Maine teachers who work with special-needs students is currently not fully certified.

For more information, visit the Maine Department of Education’s special education personnel grant web page, www.maine.gov/education/speced/spdg/goal1/, to download an application.

Speech language, occupational and physical therapists who are not fully qualified, along with educational technicians hoping to become qualified to work with children with disabilities, will be eligible for an upcoming round of scholarship awards.

Contact Debrajean Scheibel with questions by phone at 207-624-6689 or by email at [email protected].