What Special Education Teachers Need

By Mark Marino, Bronx Elementary teacher, Executive Board Candidate, A Better Contract

Being an elementary special education teacher is a very rewarding career. Over my career I have seen students grow so much in one school year. They go from struggling to write a sentence, to writing short essays. I’ve seen students go from a student who dislikes math, to performing closer to their peers. It is beyond rewarding, it is inspiring, and seeing a student change their own narrative means so much!

Unfortunately there is a backstory to all of this. Whether it’s printing out a differentiated task at night, working on an IEP when you enter the building in the morning, or any of the other tasks that our colleagues in general education classes have to perform - eg; bulletin board creation, daily lesson plans, or parent outreach, teachers in elementary schools are swamped with work. In a special education teacher's case like mine, it's even worse.

In the most recent 2023 contract, special education teachers gained nothing except for a special education committee. I am running as an elementary school executive board member with A Better Contract because I feel we can make the changes needed for special education teachers. Some new shifts we would like to make are creating dedicated time for Special Education teachers in elementary schools to work on IEP creation. One 45 minute prep a day is not enough time for this, to go with all our other responsibilities. A dedicated time whether it be a day or half day out of the classroom, repurposing our 60 minutes of PD, or even getting contractual language to dedicate 2 more preps a week for special education teachers would all be importants supports for the time that is needed to do this important work.

We need to look outside the box of what we have “always done” in future contracts and SBO’s. Our time on this Earth is precious, our careers are amazing, but we shouldn’t have to live them 24/7. I hope in the next few weeks, UFT Members think outside the box, and make smart choices during our elections. Vote for A Better Contract and lets make actionable changes together.