More than a hundred 3- and 4-year-olds with disabilities at the Mosaic Pre-K Centers in Queens will now receive the related services they need to thrive, the culmination of a two-year organizing effort by the union and the broader school community.

Mosaic, which has 15 sites across Queens, is hiring five new full-time speech teachers and three new full-time occupational therapists this fall, after 40 staff members and parents filed special education compliance complaints about students not receiving the services indicated on their Individualized Education Programs (IEPs).

The services are vital for success in school and later in life, the educators say.

“The sooner the intervention occurs, the better the outcome,” said Jocelyn Zatulove, a speech therapist at the school. She explained that early childhood is a “crucial” period both for brain development and for early positive experiences of communication at school.

“A lot of these kids have no way to communicate,” Zatulove said. “The longer that goes on, the more frustrated they get, and it’s such a struggle.”

Educators at Mosaic began filing special education complaints in October 2022 to alert the union to the high number of students not receiving their mandated services. A complaint triggers a problem-solving process by staff in the UFT’s Special Education Division, who escalate unresolved issues to the city Department of Education or the New York State Education Department. In this case, UFT liaison Elizabeth McGovern conducted the UFT’s ongoing conversations with the DOE on the staffing needs at Mosaic.

Mosaic Chapter Leaders Allison Ruina and Theresa Schneider spearheaded the effort to encourage members to file special education complaints.

Their colleagues were initially reluctant. “They didn’t know if they’d get in trouble or make waves,” said Ruina, but “they wanted to do the right thing by the kids.”

If a child’s IEP, which is a legal document, says they should receive a special education service, Ruina said, “then there’s no excuse” for the DOE to fall short of providing those services.

The school administration supported the educators’ efforts on behalf of the students. One of the centers’ three principals, Arthur Gnecco, sent McGovern weekly reports on the number of occupational and speech therapy sessions that went uncovered across Mosaic’s 15 sites.

“We’re going to fight for these services no matter what,” said UFT Vice President for Special Education MaryJo Ginese, “but when all the different stakeholders can come together and take on that fight together, we can be so much more effective.”

As word spread around the Mosaic pre-K sites about the need for more occupational and physical therapists and speech teachers, parents started asking what they could do. After the UFT organized a “know your rights” workshop for parents about special education compliance in December 2023, parents began filing special education complaints.

With each piece of documentation, the UFT built a more persuasive case for the DOE to fully staff Mosaic Pre-K Centers. This fall, the DOE finally provided enough funding in the school budget to hire the needed related service providers.

Alma Rosales was one of the Mosaic parents who filed a UFT special education complaint with the union’s encouragement. She says her daughter Leslie’s occupational therapy at school was interrupted by staffing issues last school year.

But Leslie was one of the pre-K students fortunate enough to continue to receive speech therapy at school, and Rosales saw the benefits. “She’s become more independent,” said Rosales of her daughter, who is now in kindergarten. “She was only saying words, and now she’s saying phrases.”

Leslie has also become better able to let her mother know when she feels frustrated or overwhelmed, Rosales said.

Ruina says that the organizing victory at Mosaic speaks to the growing need for related services for 3-K and pre-K students with disabilities as the city’s early childhood education program expands to serve more youngsters. “Every year there are more kids needing a little extra support,” said Ruina. “At this age, they’re sponges, they’re taking it all in, and now is the time to make the impact.”