June 2004

 

Dear Colleague,

We know that this has been a hard year for many of you and that things have not always gone exactly as they should. IEP teachers have been used in a huge variety of ways and the position is not the same from school to school. Under the terms of the October 2003 agreement, IEP teachers were not to be used as substitutes at any time, or for coverages other than for a special education teacher who must attend an IEP conference for a student s/he serves. The only exception to the latter would be that rare instance in which no other teacher in the building was available (on prep or an administrative period) when the coverage was needed. Neither should IEP teachers be covering classes for general education teachers to attend conferences. If you were used this way and you want to stop it, tell your Chapter Leader and the UFT District Representative. If they can't get it corrected, you must file a grievance in your school.

The second area where we are having problems implementing the agreement is with the transfer opportunity they agreed to provide for former education evaluators who could not get the IEP in position in their current school because it wasn't allocated (e.g. all D75 schools and most high schools) or was bilingual, or it went to a more senior former education evaluator.

We began meeting with them to develop the plan around the beginning of April. Nonetheless, the plan has not been published and the DOE is still trying to identify the vacancies available. One of the reasons for the delay is that we disagreed with them over what should be considered a vacancy for this opportunity. We believe that any position not filled this year by a former education evaluator should be considered a vacancy. The DOE wants to consider only those positions that are actually vacant.

The DOE has been unable to verify the vacancies even using their limited definition and so the plan has not been posted. As of today, it appears that the plan won't be ready until July. We have talked to the DOE about mailing it directly to all former education evaluators as well as posting it on line on their web site (www.nycenet.edu/offices/dhr/). (The UFT will publish a link to that site on our web site, www.uft.org, as well.) The DOE is aware that sending out the plan this late creates uncertainty about everyone having the opportunity to see it and apply in a timely fashion, since many former education evaluators will be away on vacation. They have promised to be flexible and accommodating in resolving any problems in September.

The Union filed a grievance on the failure to post the plan in a timely fashion and on the DOE's limited definition of a vacancy. The grievance was heard at Step 3. We are asking that all vacancies based on our definition be listed, for the plan to be mailed to you at home, that the timeframe for applications be extended and that the DOE make the same opportunity available next year for those who were not able to avail themselves of it this year. We are awaiting a decision but don't really expect a resolution until we get to arbitration sometime next year.

The final area where there are problems is with retaining the position. Many former education evaluators who had the position this year have been told that they cannot have it next year. This is a clear violation of the October 2003 agreement which states (paragraph 5) that,

"The [IEP Teacher] program will be circulated in the same manner as other regular teaching programs in the spring semester pursuant to existing contractual rules. Special Education Teachers will have the opportunity to declare a preference for this assignment. Notwithstanding the immediately preceding sentence, a Special Education Teacher (including those teachers who possess a New York State Certification in Special Education but were serving as an Education Evaluator under a license other than special education) who served as an Education Evaluator during the 2002-2003 school year (including any Education Evaluator on leave or sabbatical for that year) will have a preference for this assignment, in each year that it exists, including the 2003-2004 school year, in whatever form it may exist."

In simple terms this means that, the position should not be posted and that a former education evaluator serving in the position only has to state the preference to be assured of continuing in the IEP teacher position. If your principal has made the mistake of posting the position and/or giving it to someone else, you should talk to your Chapter Leader or the UFT District Representative immediately. If they can't get the problem corrected, must file a grievance to enforce your right to continue in the position. The timeframe for reorganization grievances is very short, so you must have an answer within a day or two, or file the grievance.

If you have State Certification in Special Education, you do not need to switch to a Special Education City license and serve a new probation in order to keep the IEP teacher job. Some principals are having problems understanding that their Galaxy budget system can pay you in this position regardless of your license. If you are being given misinformation on this and being told you must change licenses, call the UFT. The central UFT offices will be open throughout the summer (212-777-7500) and there will be staff available to assist you.

We'll keep you posted of any changes as they come up. Keep watching the web sites and your mail for the transfer opportunity. Most of all, have a good summer.

Fraternally,

Marc S. Korashan
Special Representative