I have been an occupational therapist for the city for over eight years. I love working with children inside and outside the classroom.

However, it seems to me in all the schools I’ve been in (I’ve worked in more than 13 schools, including a number of District 75 sites, across Brooklyn and Queens), there seems to always be the same difficulty: too many students for too few teachers.

In District 75, there’s a recognized and legal need for support as every classroom has at least one teacher and one paraprofessional. But in a general education classroom, that’s almost never the case.

While a self-contained class gets a paraprofessional and ICT classes have two teachers — one for general education and one for special education — the same cannot be said for a “regular” general education classroom where one teacher alone is responsible for 30-plus students most times.

The move to reduce class size in the future, while helpful, does not solve the problems of support, safety and function. It also won’t take effect in most classes immediately.

If staffing standards are legally required for District 75, ICT and self-contained classes, why aren’t they legally required for general education classes? Do the students in those classes have fewer needs and less right to safety than their peers with disabilities?

Each general ed class should be required by law to have a classroom assistant or teacher assistant to ensure the best attention, function, growth and safety of our students.

Tani Guterman, PS 50, Queens