Long story short (not really). I’ve been a gen ed teacher for 11 years and switched to sped last year, and I pretty much hate it for a ton of different reasons. My director is of NO help, my caseload averages 45 students, I have 7 grade levels to plan for, I have kids who aren’t sped in my room because they need extra help or they need a sensory break, etc. My principal made it clear that she wouldn’t move me out of sped back to gen ed, and that’s pretty clear since they’ve now had 4 gen ed spots open and hired from the outside for all of them. So, I sent my resume to the district I was before my current school because they had a gen ed spot open. I got a call for a sped spot. My initial thought was, “Hell, no!” But the director started telling me about their program, and they offer a lot of support to their sped teachers. I’d only have two grade levels, max at 25 caseload, etc. My husband and I visited about, and I ultimately decided to stay at my current school. My thought process was that I’m obviously going to be in sped next year anyway, so I might as well stay at a place I’ve been at for the last 6 years. Well, my para quit (she’s honestly what kept me sane last year) and they’re thinking about restructuring things which would give me another grade level to plan for and would make my caseload 47. I’m lower elementary, so I know I’ll get more referrals. I’m really regretting not interviewing for my former school. It’s been three weeks, so realistically it’s been filled. But how bad would it look if I called and asked to be considered for any other sped positions that become available? Maybe if I explain my situation carefully, I don’t walk it to look like I’m trash talking my district, she’ll understand where I’m coming from? I’ve accepted the fact that I’ve pigeonholed myself into sped. I’m trying to be optimistic and think it will make a difference if it’s a better ran program.
Could you call someone who teaches sped for your former district to make sure what the director says is actually true? The last thing you want is to take a new position only to find out the reality is different from what was explained.
I don't have a ton of insight here expect one point: you should NOT have students in your room if they do not have an IEP. Our SPED teacher is extremely adamant about that. If they need services, they need to go through the proper RTI channels to receive those services. Is there a director that you can speak to about that, if you do decide to stay?
Totally agree, and that is a fear I have. My former principal was a sped teacher under her and said she really takes care of her sped teachers. The teacher I replaced taught under her and liked her. So, I truly feel I can take her at her word.
I completely agree it should not be happening, and it really ticks me off. I’m kind of in a weird spot with the director and my principal. My principal does not care for the director at all, not even a tiny bit. My concern is if I tell my director, my principal will be irritated at me since she (principal) is the one who said the non IEP kids are coming to my room.
That's the norm around here. But then again, so is breaking pretty much any and every regulation you could think of.
IME, that's never been true unless maybe you're talking about a self-contained sped room. My school does everything in intervention blocks and I have to take on gen ed kids as they fit into my groups. This past year, I worked with about as many gen ed students as I did sped students. In a former building, we had to make that decision as part of an "RtI process," but it's not like there was a big deterrent or anything. Anyone could get an RtI meeting and often the decision made was that the intervention to try would be done in my room. OP, if it were me I'd call and ask about the position. Make up some excuse about a personal issue that prevented you from interviewing before, but now that situation has been resolved. It's possible the position hasn't been filled. We've had sped positions open for months before admins finally decided to choose someone. There aren't as many applicants, so they can't be as picky about who they interview, and then they decide they don't like anyone they interviewed, but then have to wait for more to apply, etc. Even if it's been filled, they'll know to keep you in mind if something else comes up.
Are you in a small district? Just wondering because I am ATM and was curious to see if it might be a trend.
I only pull 30, the rest are monitoring only. I feel like I’m failing my kids big time. They’re not all getting what they need. There’s some confusing formula my state uses. It factors in the severity of my kids and their service times to come up with my legal caseload limit.
Not all states have caseload limits. Mine doesn't. I got up to 50 before they finally agreed to hire a second sped teacher for my building.
50 students in one classroom is completely unacceptable and your administration is spectacularly stupid for allowing it. Wow. This just goes to show us that stupidity knows no bounds. Ridiculous.
