School Psychologists Spend More Time on Paperwork than Working with Special Needs Students

Yesterday, Betsy Gotbaum released a new survey that found that, since the reorganizations of the special education system, school psychologists report that the significantly increased workload and the associated paperwork hinder their ability to complete quality student interventions and evaluations. At the same time, there are 86 school psychologists and social workers in the Department of Education's (DOE) Absent Teacher Reserve, earning a combined $7.1 million. Instead of being utilized in their respective fields of expertise, they are working as substitute or temporary teachers.

Gotbaum said, "We have more students receiving special education services than ever before, but school psychologists are actually spending less time working directly with students. Instead, they are being required to spend much of their day filling out paperwork. It's also troubling to see a number of trained mental health professionals sitting idly in the Absent Teacher Reserve instead of filling the holes in the special education system and delivering essential services to special needs students.

Randi Weingarten, President of the United Federation of Teachers, also commented.

Read the Full Report.pdf (results and recommendations) or today's article in the NY Post.