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School psychologists, social workers ‘overwhelmed, disrespected’

by Jim Callaghan

Mar 13, 2008 2:19 PM

School psychologists and social workers have long dealt with increased workload and paperwork that would clog any smooth-running operation, but this year they claim the burden has become overwhelming — thus depriving their students of much-needed attention.

In addition, some principals have pressured school psychologists to commit fraud by claiming they have seen students when they have not. Clinicians have been shoe-horned into crowded work places and have been pressured to ignore state and federal laws, being directed to illegally change Individual Education Programs (IEPs) for special education students, without considering the child’s needs. 

Ann Englesbe, the chapter leader, said she has never seen it this bad.

“I am getting complaints from across the city,” Englesbe said. “Our members feel overwhelmed and disrespected.”

She said that even when she reaches an agreement on an issue with a Department of Education official, it is countermanded on the local level by principals who are oblivious about the law and indifferent to the needs of students.

“It’s become one big numbers game,” said one psychologist. Evidentally, “all [Schools Chancellor Joel] Klein cares about is meeting some paper quotas and making it look as though he is doing something. The kids are not important to him.”

The key word that emerges from the complaints is “stress.”

Ruth K. Levine, a veteran school psychologist, said the DOE’s philosophy about the job has changed drastically over the years.

“The purpose of our jobs is being eaten away,” she said at a recent meeting of the group’s executive board. “We are supposed to be helping families and kids and instead we get beat on. We are not even allowed to work with our teachers.”

A social worker at the same meeting said, “We are being devalued because the DOE doesn’t want special education any longer,” adding that the duties of the social workers and psychologists in the schools should be equalized.

That they aren’t, said Englesbe, was most likely by design, “as a way to divide and conquer.”  

Many psychologists told the New York Teacher that their work has quadrupled since 2003.  

UFT President Randi Weingarten committed the union to pursue union-initiated grievances and urged the members to use the workload dispute procedure to file individual situations with the DOE. The more individual cases that are filed, the more the DOE can’t hide from its responsibility for special needs kids and continue to shift all responsibility to the backs of psychologists, Weingarten said.

The biggest frustration is that the issues of too many caseloads is often ignored by DOE administrators until a member files a workload grievance.

“I can’t emphasize it enough,” Englesbe said. “We have a contract and we are determined to force the DOE to live up to it.”

She said that in most instances, the DOE doesn’t fight workload grievances “because they know we are right.” But it shouldn’t have to come to that, she said. Such issues should be resolved in a collaborative spirit.

As one example of how the DOE disrespects psychologists and social workers, union officials point to PS 26 in Staten Island. There, three staffers are made to work in a book closet, cheek by jowl with stacks of books hanging precariously off shelves.

After a recent visit by UFT industrial hygienist Edward Olmstead and UFT Special Representative John Robilotti, Olmstead said: “The room has a large number of stored boxes and stacks of books on shelves. The stored materials are heavy and are not stored in a secure manner. Some of the contents may weigh over 50 pounds and are stored on top shelves approximately seven feet from the floor.

“There is a significant risk of boxes of books falling from a shelf and striking and injuring a student or staff member.” 

Olmstead said that the room isn’t appropriate “for an office or classroom in the current state.” He recommended that, “in the near term, all of the stored books should be cleaned out to create more space. A proper adjustable computer work station should be provided that meets the recommendations of the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA).”

This scene of cramped work space is replicated throughout the city.   

Much of the additional work stems from the DOE’s actions in 2003 to eliminate the education evaluator position. Testifying at the City Council in 2006, UFT Vice President for Special Education Carmen Alvarez said: “Our school psychologists have become one-person bands, playing too many instruments while not being allowed to perform in the classroom.”

Alvarez said Klein had also reduced the number of other special education professionals, including special education supervisors.

“Now,” she said, “special education staff are under the supervision, actually, at the mercy, of principals who frequently do not know or understand special education regulations and successful instructional practices.”

Alvarez also told the Council members that “in many cases, the DOE has reneged on promises to provide school professionals appropriate support. It reneged on ongoing professional development for all staff involved in the evaluation and placement processes. It reneged on clerical assistance, proper space in which to work for everyone providing services and needed facilities such as computers, phones and copy machines.”

According to the National Association of School Psychologists, the model ratio should be one psychologist per 1,000 students. One UFT member said, “With my current caseload, there should be 4.5 psychologists.” He said some psychologists now have caseloads in the thousands, “but we have lost almost all of the services of the CSEs.”

A typical psychologist, he said, is now performing three or four full-time jobs.

Other complaints revolve around DOE managers removing part-time help for psychologists when full-time help is needed and that psychologists are being given simultaneous assignments in several schools, which, according to one member, “virtually assures no possibility whatsoever of continuity, effective case management, or professional dialogue with teachers and parents.”

The psychologists also say that the DOE routinely violates the law when it comes to the “Jose P.” stipulation, which mandates that certain services be provided to special education students. The Jose P. case involved special education students whose parents sued the old Board of Education. The case was settled when the board agreed to improve services for those students.   

At a recent meeting, a member was asked to sum up the issues facing psychologists.

“We want to get it right,” she said. “Let us be dignified professionals. I am embarrassed by what goes on around me every day.”

Another member said: “We are exhausted.”

There was no disagreement in the room.