Apr 10, 2008 4:38 PM
Up a series of winding staircases at PS 6 in Manhattan, there’s a bright annex of offices affectionately called “The Tower.”
While school psychologist Dr. Adrian Tubero updates information in a child’s Individual Education Program on the computer and answers calls about scheduling an education planning conference, another psychologist, Dr. Anne Muldowney, calls a nearby pre-school to schedule a “turning 5” visit.
Through a closed door comes laughter punctuated with occasional shouts of “no fair, no fair” or “I win.” The calm voice of social worker Rick Eisman brings the panic out of the high tenors of two elementary boys playing Jenga to learn teamwork skills.
Despite the distraction, Muldowney continues getting the information on the 4-year-old who will turn 5 and enter kindergarten this fall.
“At least now we have doors, thanks to our parent group,” Muldowney said. “And I’ve been in schools where I used to be in a textbook closet with no heat so by 11 a.m. my legs would go numb. This is a great space.”
Muldowney, Eisman and Tubero make up the IEP team at the school on East 81st Street, between Park and Madison avenues.
The fact that there even are any IEP teams in New York City schools is the result of strenuous efforts by the UFT. The union responded after special education was targeted for severe cutbacks two years in a row. First, the Department of Education eliminated a number of special education positions in 2003, most notably all education evaluator positions and special education supervisors; then the Individuals with Disabilities Education Act of 2004 loosened requirements on how to develop and maintain education plans for students requiring special ed services.
The union teamed up with parents and disability advocacy groups to fight plans to retrench and refashion the jobs of psychologists and social workers.
“We have been able to maintain certain professional standards against great odds,” said Ann Englesbe, who chairs the School Social Worker and Psychologist Chapter of the UFT. “It has been a constant fight to preserve the professional ethics of psychologists and social workers.”
But where the union found ways to help keep the jobs of psychologists and social workers, the DOE responded by cutting other positions or services that support special ed. That means increasing workloads for the staff who remain.
“Now the workloads have increased to the point where it has tipped the scales to overload,” said UFT Vice President for Special Education Carmen Alvarez, who has long advocated that the DOE provide the appropriate supports that students need in their schools. That fight was chronicled in the March 13 issue as school psychologists and social workers went public about their heavy increases in workloads and concerns that special ed students’ needs are being shortchanged.
There are 1,280 psychologists working in New York City schools to handle all the referrals and other cases. On average, each school psychologist’s caseload is well over 100.
Despite that impossible overload, the IEP team at PS 6 still manages to do the kind of good work that wins respect. Lauren Fontana, principal of the school, which has just under 800 K-5 students, said she appreciates how the IEP team supports the teachers in the school and helps to improve the overall teaching and learning climate.
“The resources they provide us are invaluable and among the many things I appreciate is how they help the classroom teachers focus on what a child can do, rather than what the child can’t do,” Fontana said.
Team members noted that an important part of their success is due to Fontana’s special education background. “Her understanding of what both the social work and psychologist positions can offer to a school in invaluable,” said Rick Eisman, who noted that since he is the Manhattan borough leader for social workers and psychologists he more often hears about the lack of support that other teams receive. “It’s truly unfortunate that the kind of support that our principal offers our team is rare in our schools.”
The IEP team at PS 6 finds it can focus on working together, and the bottom line is that together everyone achieves more.
“It’s a great place to be involved with kids and to do school psychology, which I love,” said Tubero.
Muldowney agreed. “Previously I worked in hospitals, clinics and with the police department,” he said. “I love helping kids and I loved school when I went there. Then, I wanted to be on the same schedule as my son, so it was a natural choice to become a school psychologist.”
Duties during any given day range from meeting with parents, observing students in a classroom setting, testifying at hearings, counseling students individually or in small groups, traveling to another school for a classroom observation, preparing or participating in an IEP team meeting, and filling out paperwork.
Conferring with one another constantly on the days they are all at PS 6, members of the team keep on top of a staggering amount of details on students: Who needs hearing aids? Who needs a speech therapy re-evaluation? Which students need some anxiety counseling about a pending move to a middle or junior high school? The list goes on and on, especially if a crisis hits.
“Unfortunately, we’re finding more and more paperwork,” Eisman said. The paperwork, much of which appears redundant, would be one reason for the increased workload but it’s compounded by the lack of computers and printers for the work that needs to be done. The IEP team shares two computers and has two printers only because Eisman brought one in from home. Just the IEP alone requires page after page of annual goals and short-term objectives for a wide variety of needs.
But the main reason for the increase in work and stress is the cuts in positions.
“Ever since we lost the positions of education evaluators in 2003, our testing loads have doubled,” Eisman said. Further, when an administrative group that dealt with vision and hearing for disabled students was disbanded last year, that workload was also given to psychologists. Then, the social worker supervisor position was eliminated. While not having a manager might seem like a good thing, it also means there is no one advocating for social workers in central administration.
Like the students playing the block game Jenga, in which the tower grows tall when the players work together, making sure students with disabilities get the services they need requires strategy. Even scheduling a meeting for the three team members requires planning as Tubero and Eisman have assignments at other schools in addition to serving kids at PS 6.
Englesbe noted that after the 2003 cutbacks, when the administration began piling more duties onto the IEP team and especially the psychologists, the union filed a workload grievance and took the case all the way to arbitration.
“As a result, we now have a workload dispute process to follow when the workload becomes too much,” Englesbe said.
The union recently reminded members of the procedures and urged them to use the process by filing individual complaints with the DOE. The UFT is also committed to pursuing union-initiated grievances, when necessary.
“It’s unfortunate that we have to go to these ends, but if we don’t force the DOE to provide the appropriate staff it’s the students who lose out,” Englesbe said.