The special education complaint process is how UFT members can alert their union about special education compliance violations at their schools. It’s a powerful tool to safeguard students’ welfare as well as members’ workplace rights. Read the accounts of two UFT members who succeeded in resolving issues using the process:
Lake Zebrowski, social studies teacher and UFT chapter leader at South Bronx Preparatory
Lake Zebrowski, social studies teacher and UFT chapter leader at South Bronx Preparatory
Special education teachers were being used as emergency substitute teachers. I talked about it in consultation twice and nothing was done. I filed the special education complaint, and it immediately stopped.
That success emboldened me. The same year, we had an integrated co-teaching class where 26 out of 27 students had IEPs. When you have an inappropriately high concentration of students with behavioral and focus issues, without proper staffing, it’s difficult to teach correctly. The students aren’t getting the attention they need.
I filed the special education complaint, and my principal was furious. We changed the whole schedule mid-year. It felt earth-shattering.
But guess what? The next school year, when every class was in compliance, everyone said how much easier it was to do their jobs. The administration now knows that when I tell them something needs fixing, I’m not wrong, and I’m not joking.
Many educators are afraid of blowback for enforcing the rules, but if your administration gets mad, they’ll get over it. Special education students are the most vulnerable kids in the building. We have the responsibility to protect their rights.
Hear more from Zebrowski from a recent appearance at a special education town hall.
Becky Huffman, special education teacher at PS 230 in Brooklyn
Becky Huffman, special education teacher at PS 230 in Brooklyn.
I teach grades K–2. Usually once per year, I have a student who needs a District 75 placement. These students have challenging or self-harm behaviors; they might need toileting and diapering or they’re nonverbal. District 75 curricula include bathroom skills, feeding and in-classroom services like speech therapy. In the 2024–25 school year, I had three such students. We couldn’t meet their needs. We were dealing with behaviors like kicking and biting. I recommended reassessment to the students’ families, and we submitted transfer requests in May. Then, we never heard anything.
The parents were distressed. They wanted their children enrolled in July. Now they didn’t know where their children would be come September.
The same class returned for 2025–26. I asked my UFT special education representative to help with the complaint form. By October, two of the students had placements. The third student’s family refused their placement and waited for another. In April, I filed a second complaint. Two weeks later, he had a new placement.
There’s no reason to be scared to file complaints. The IEP is a legal document, and if a student doesn’t get what it mandates, then the DOE is breaking the law. We must be strong and stand against that.