“My child’s teacher for remote learning has changed 3x already. Today, he has no remote teacher. Some days, there are about 60 children in the remote class. My child is depressed and has regressed tremendously.” — Parent of PK-8 School Student in Blended Model
We suggest reviewing both the analysis and the results. Please Note: In the original survey, parents of students in the blended model answered Questions 6-22; parents of students in the fully remote model answered Questions 23-34.
Recent News & Media
TIP: We’ve created a tool for you to use for documenting missed or partially delivered IEP services.
4/8/21 Chalkbeat NY & 4/8/21 The City, the members of Special Support Services profiled for their efforts collecting data for teaching shortage survey: “Parents Say NYC Officials Aren’t Sharing Meaningful Data about Students with Disabilities. So They’re Collecting It Themselves” by Caitlin Antonios
2/2/21 -3/2/21 We collaborated with Protect Special Education NYC & Comite Timon People and Families NYC to collect 4,300 signatures on a petition to the Mayor, urging him to develop a proactive plan for the City’s 200,000 students with IEPs.
1/14/21 New York State Assembly Members Andrew Hevesi, Robert Carroll, Jo Anne Simon, New York City Council Member Mark Treyger, and nearly 50 elected local and state officials signed a letter to Mayor Bill de Blasio, asking him to develop a proactive plan for the City’s 200,000 students with IEPs. Recommendations in the letter are based on those made in the NYC Special Education Teacher Shortage Survey.
12/8/20 New York Times, survey linked and Jenn Choi quoted in “12,000 More White Children Return to NYC Schools Than Black Children” by Eliza Shapiro
12/2/20 World Journal, “Main Reason for the Shortage of Teachers” (in Mandarin) by Jie Er Gan
12/1/20 Chalkbeat NY & 12/2/20 The City “NYC’s Staffing Crunch Takes a Big Toll on Students with Disabilities, Report Finds” by Amy Zimmer & Alex Zimmerman
12/1/20 Daily News “NYC Students with Disabilities Face Widespread Staffing Shortage, Over-Enrolled Classes: Survey” by Michael Elsen-Rooney
10/21/20 NY1/Spectrum News “Survey Aims to Identify What Services Students with Disabilities Are Missing ” by Jillian Jorgensen
About the Survey Analysis & Results As part of our ongoing community work during the 2020 pandemic, the advocates and parents at Special Support Services conducted a parent survey focused on the impact of the NYC teacher staffing shortage on students with disabilities. Based on 1,167 survey respondents, our findings reveal the following:
- Large class sizes with less staff make Integrated Co-Teaching Service ineffective
- Inefficient structuring for students in self-contained classes (all students in the class have IEPs)
- Inconsistent and ineffective remote instruction
- Lack of access to paraprofessional service and SETSS (special education teacher support services).
Take Action and Stay Informed! Join us as we work collectively to protect IEP services during the pandemic. Connect with us in one of two ways:
Facebook Group: Protect NYC Special Education (Proteger La Educación Especial de NYC)
IO Group Listserv: Protect NYC Special Education (Proteger La Educación Especial de NYC )
Read Jenn’s strategies for parents in advocating for implementation of their children’s IEPs on Medium.
Special Support Services, LLC 