When you send out a survey and 81% of all schools in the city respond, it is a strong indication that it is a topic that people feel passionately about. That is what happened when we asked our chapter leaders and paraprofessional representatives in October to tell us about the state of special education services in their schools. The overwhelming response to the survey made one thing crystal clear: The city Department of Education is failing our students with special needs.

The survey found that thousands of our most vulnerable students are not getting the support they are legally entitled to due to a severe shortage of paraprofessionals, special education teachers, occupational and physical therapists, speech teachers and other related service providers. Chapter leaders reported 2,264 unfilled special education positions — more than half for paraprofessionals — across 474 schools. The staffing shortfall is most severe in District 75, which serves our students with the greatest needs.

The DOE’s failure to adequately staff our schools is unacceptable. We have long known that our related service providers were stretched thin, but the numbers from the survey show how untenable the DOE has let the situation become. We have asked state Education Commissioner Betty Rosa to investigate and take action.

The paraprofessional shortage can be traced in part to the DOE’s Byzantine hiring process.

People wishing to become substitute paraprofessionals — the only path to a full-time, appointed position — must cut through incredible red tape and jump over many hurdles to get hired. The UFT is stepping in once again, calling job candidates to help them navigate the hiring process.

The DOE needs to streamline its hiring protocols so that people willing to do this important work are processed quickly and placed in schools where students need them.

Another obstacle is low pay. City public schools have significant shortages in many job titles and certificates. If you want to recruit and retain workers, you need to pay them fairly.

Licensed, credentialed professionals should be appropriately compensated for the expertise they offer. The DOE should not fill staffing shortfalls with outside contractors who do not know our students or our schools.

Paraprofessionals are the backbone of our special education services, and yet they are paid a starting salary of $30,000, which is not enough to live on in New York City. It is shameful.

The gap between paraprofessionals and the higher-earning school titles grows wider with every contract because the across-the-board wage increases based on percentages used in pattern bargaining for city unions put lower earners at a disadvantage. Paraprofessionals get a smaller actual dollar increase since the base salary on which the percentage wage increase is calculated is lower.

We cannot wait until our next round of contract negotiations to fix this injustice for paraprofessionals. The DOE must act now.

This special issue of the New York Teacher celebrates the myriad ways that school related professionals contribute to New York City public schools, and it provides union rights and benefits information tailored to their needs.

Now is the time for the DOE to give every school related professional the respect and compensation they deserve and to overhaul its hiring process for paraprofessionals. Only then can the DOE hope to fill all the vacancies in its schools so no student is left without the services they need to thrive.

Enough is enough.