The statute establishing SESA also provides that the agency may address other special education needs in Alaska. Accordingly, the agency uses additional funding to offer several other services to schools and other service systems. To deliver its various services SESA employs a staff of Education Specialists having advanced training and specialized experience appropriate to the age and area of disability served by each program. The specific job requirements, work calendar and length of contract vary across programs, but the base contract year is 184 days, including holidays. The majority of SESA's work is in the villages, small towns and the rural areas surrounding the major communities in the state, but every school district in Alaska receives one or more SESA service each year.
Most specialists alternate travel weeks with non-travel weeks in our Anchorage headquarters.
SESA Specialists are included in Alaska's Teachers' Retirement System and receive salary and employee benefits as negotiated through their appointed bargaining unit. To read more about what the job is like, in the words of one of SESA's specialists, click here. In recent years, technology has become a major feature of the agency. A variety of technologies support the work of our staff, link them to the state and world, and provide clients and other interested parties access to SESA's resources and expertise. Current applications of technology include inhouse and remote telecommunications, video and electronic presentations, distance delivery of courses and workshops, desktop internet and an inhouse web server.