It’s taken a long time for the force of supply and demand to work its magic on the public schools’ special education teacher shortfall. Finally, good news: A $10,000 pay boost effectively cut the number of vacancies from 112 a year ago, to 69 as of Oct. 1.

Of course, the teacher shortage affects many more teaching categories, but this represents an encouraging start. And it’s help for a critical mandate to properly address these needs. Let’s hope the state’s looming furloughs don’t erase such gains.