Psychologists see potential for ‘Columbine’ here

NYT Vol. XLV, #14, March 10, 2004

By MICHAEL SPIELMAN

Barbara Lewis, school psychologist at PS 751 in Manhattan, said at a meeting last week that there was "no harm in telling the truth" in filling out a questionnaire for the Public Advocate’s office. But many psychologists do feel there is harm because of the atmosphere of fear that the DOE has created in the school system.

Could a Columbine disaster happen in a New York school? Anguished and angry school psychologists say their jobs have been restructured in such a way that they are often not able to work with troubled students who may have violent or suicidal tendencies, and that their ability to do intervention and prevention has been all but eliminated.

"If I hear one more time about what happened at Columbine," said Esther Brody of IS 281 in Brooklyn, "and all the information that they acquired afterward about, ‘Oh, these kids were really at risk.’" Brody warned at a meeting of school psychologists last week that "the writing is on the wall."

With the mounting problems in special education, UFT President Randi Weingarten held two meetings with school psychologists last week to learn first-hand what the difficulties are and to chart a course for how to help. She heard plenty.

In addition to being so bogged down in the new elements of their job that they cannot effectively work with troubled youngsters, the job they had originally signed on to do - to the extent that the troubled youngsters sometimes have no place to turn - the psychologists said they have not been enabled to do the new work, either.

This new work, according to Ira Kurland, chapter leader of school psychologists and social workers, involves testing students and assessing their need for special education, work that was done along with education evaluators until the Department of Education eliminated the position before this school year started.

In addition, the psychologists must now do case management, CSE (Committee on Special Education) reviews and placement, work that was done by others in the past.

But the psychologists said they have received at best spotty and inadequate training, and for some work they have received no training at all. In addition they have been given inadequate materials, have overwhelming caseloads with little if any clerical help and have been given totally unrealistic deadlines.

Instead of working with children, most of the psychologists said they are now merely "paper pushers."

And they also sense a great deal of hostility on the part of their administrators. Bart Lilenfeld of PS 29 on Staten Island said, "I do believe management will come after us." He said that despite all the impediments thrown in their way, administrators will say, "If we were really competent we could do the job."

Richard Abramson of IS 204 in Queens said he was visited by an auditor from the DOE who asked him a series of questions about how long it takes him to perform various aspects of his job. "My impression is that they were trying to determine if I just work half time." The room full of psychologists laughed, but it was a rueful laughter.

There were many stories of administrators telling psychologists to take shortcuts - "You don’t really have to assess every child," Valerie Negron of PS 45 in Brooklyn was told - or to make changes, which are illegal, to Individualized Education Programs.

Many of the school psychologists said their sense of ethics was constantly being challenged by the way they were told to do their jobs by uncaring and unknowledgeable administrators Weingarten said that amassing information is only the first part of the job that needs to be done to straighten out the special ed situation. The next part is to enlist allies from the community, parents, elected officials and civic groups who see what we see to make the same case to the chancellor and the mayor.

"We know we will not change Klein and Bloomberg’s belief systems. So we have to change their conduct."
Weingarten insisted that "our solidarity and our unity will defeat their arrogance and their ignorance - but it will take awhile."

To help amass information, Weingarten brought Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum to the meeting at the Brooklyn Marriott last Wednesday. Gotbaum has issued one report on the untoward drop in special ed referrals this year because it is apparently DOE policy to reduce, if not try to eliminate, special ed.

Gotbaum distributed a questionnaire to the psychologists to help her follow up with additional charges about the "mess" the DOE is making of special ed. The questionnaire was also distributed at the second meeting, last Thursday, in Queens.

Gotbaum promised that the questionnaires would be kept confidential, even though Barbara Lewis of PS 751 in Manhattan said there was no harm in "only telling the truth."

But Gotbaum said that Lewis’ attitude is unique and that there is "a real fear factor" for many of the educators she has been speaking to.
Weingarten also asked the psychologists to form an action committee, as have other functional chapters and districts to help develop a plan to counteract the DOE.

The job ahead, Weingarten said, is to prove to the "Tweed Ring" that the psychologist job must be redefined. It is currently undoable - but we have to prove that," she said. "And, further, what you used to do - interventions and preventions - is much more valuable for you to do for kids than all this testing work."

And, the psychologists maintained, it might also prevent a tragedy.