My mom was briefly a teacher in NYC when we moved to the Bronx in 1971. She hated it and didn't last long, but I'm pretty sure all you needed back then to teach was a bachelor's degree? (That was New York, but could New Jersey have been any different?). Nowadays, the requirements are a little different - my sister teaches middle school in upstate New York and even to teach home economics (which she does), there are all sorts of special certification programs she has to go through. Unfortunately, my mom passed away last summer so I can't confirm what the teaching requirements were back then.

In any regard, I can't imagine there were a ton of folks applying to be a special ed. teacher in Riverdale, NJ in this time frame.