For 9 years, I have dedicated my career to supporting students with special educational needs, a role that I am passionate about. However, the overwhelming burden of case management tasks has taken its toll, keeping me away from my responsibility as a teacher. It is not just me—special education teachers across the country are drowning in paperwork and administrative duties that detract from their primary role: educating and supporting students. What does case management entail?  Writing legally binding Individualized Education Programs (IEPs), (3 hours per week) Scheduling and facilitating weekly IEP meetings, (1 to 2 hours each) Collaborating with parents/guardians, service providers, family advocates and other community partners, (1 to 2 hours per week) Assessing students for Initial and Triennial IEPs to determine eligibility, (a minimum of 3 hours per student per year)  Monitoring progress on IEP goals, (varies)  Caseloads range from 12 to 28 students on average in California. Depending on the amount of students assigned to each special education teacher, case management requires 10 to 25 hours per week. Developing IEPs for each student is a requirement that comes with numerous responsibilities. While incredibly important, these tasks are time-consuming, often extending well beyond regular school hours. The current structure leaves little time during school hours to dedicate to lesson planning and classroom instruction, forcing educators to work late nights and weekends to fulfill their case management duties. According to the National Education Association, nearly 94% of special education teachers report that the administrative load of managing IEPs interferes with their ability to be effective teachers. This is a clear indication that we must address the structural imbalance between teaching and administrative responsibilities if we are to ensure that our most vulnerable students receive the quality education they deserve.

I propose these solutions: let teachers be teachers and hire specialized staff to handle case management duties, or allocate specific administrative hours during the school day for special education teachers. This would enable them to focus more on teaching and less on bureaucracy. It would allow special education teachers to teach. Additionally, implementing efficient digital tools for case managers who write IEPs could streamline the mechanical work behind these legal documents so that special education teachers could focus on individualizing their students' education. 

By supporting this petition, you are advocating for a necessary change in our education system that could improve the quality of teaching and the educational outcomes for students with special needs. Students are the ones who are impacted the most—being taught by part special education teacher/part case manager. Join me in urging educational policymakers to prioritize and protect the teaching time of special education teachers.  Please sign and share this petition to bring about vital change for educators in California and their students alike.