This paper summarizes key findings from three 2002 documents on availability of special education professionals: "The Supply and Demand of Special Education Teachers: The Nature of the Chronic Shortage of Special Education Teachers" (J. McLeskey and others); "Special Education Teacher Retention and Attrition" (B. Billingsley); and "The Proliferation of Alternative Routes to Certification in Special Education: A Critical Review of the Literature" (M. Rosenberg and P. Sindelar). The paper addresses the following topics: magnitude of the special education teacher shortage; factors influencing demand; factors influencing supply; reasons for low teacher supply; attrition and retention; filling teacher vacancies and reducing demand; and future research directions. Three policy recommendations for state and local education agencies emerged from analysis of these documents: (1) focus on strategies for supporting new special education teachers (e.g., mentoring, administrative support) in addition to recruitment strategies; (2) examine teacher roles, responsibilities and caseloads to ensure that educators have adequate time to focus on student and family needs; and (3) collaborate with institutions of higher education in developing and implementing alternative certification programs. (Contains 44 references.) (DB)