To Whom It May Concern, 

***updated to add that AOTA is taking an active role and helping. They are looking into the right avenues for the best solution to this issue. 

Recently our district was proactive in affording raises to its teachers and support staff. There was a modification of the pay scales for all employees and the changes implemented, for the most part, were well deserved and probably overdue. 

However, during the process of salary studies and analysis, the position of Certified Occupational Therapy Assistants (COTA) was downgraded. These employees were, regarding professional status, given a demotion and in the process given a pay cut.

It is our understanding that the recommendation that COTAs are not skilled professional medical personnel was based on information received from the Texas Association of School Boards (TASB). TASB supplied an opinion letter from the Department of labor from 2008. We strongly feel that this letter is based on an opinion with no factual understanding of the training required and the skill level of a COTA. This letter minimizes our skill level and is only based on the degree that we hold. The letter from the Department of Labor that TASB provided, recommended that COTAs were not professional level employees. It further states that their positions did not require the employee to perform work requiring advanced scientific knowledge and that the knowledge required for the job was not acquired by a prolonged course of specialized intellectual instruction. The letter mentions that the only educational requirements for a COTA is 60 educational semester hours of college and approval by the state board. It also states that work requiring advanced knowledge is distinguished from routine mental, manual, mechanical, or physical work. These opinions are factually inaccurate.

In Texas, COTAs are required to attend a specialized educational program that results in an Associate’s Degree of Applied Science. College level prerequisites must be met to enter the program followed by prolonged, rigorous, specialized clinical training and field work that requires over 840 contact hours. This does not include individual study and testing. The Executive Council of Occupational Therapy Examiners states that an occupational therapy practitioner must hold a professional license and maintain that professional  license to provide occupational therapy services. The Texas Education Agency (TEA) states that occupational therapy services must be provided by a professional who is licensed by the Texas Board of Occupational Examiners. COTAs are required to obtain and maintain a professional license that requires extensive specialized training, and comprehensive continuing education in the state of Texas. 

In every other medical setting, such as hospitals, nursing homes, rehab facilities and the like, COTAs are considered to be skilled, professional, medical employees. In an educational setting, TASB is recommending that we are not skilled professionals.  The view of COTAs as medical professionals with a specific set of specialized skills is not questioned in any other setting. We feel this is demeaning to our profession, education level, and work based knowledge. We use clinical reasoning and make independent judgments in each session, for each student based on the individual students needs on a daily basis. It is inconsistent reasoning and discriminatory that a registered nurse with the same two year degree is considered a skilled medical professional while we are not.

In addition, the salary recommendations that TASB made for our profession is not in line with the normal compensation received by COTAs in other school districts in our area and across Texas. Our own research has shown that their COTAs are on a professional pay scale and are compensated at a higher level than TASB has recommended for us.

On a personal level, we were recruited by, and hired by the district as skilled professional employees. We feel that it is unwarranted to change our professional status and lower our pay scale after the fact. We are hard working professional employees, with specialized training, and dedicated to caring for the individualized needs of the children of this school district.

It is our hope that this difference of facts and opinions between us and TASB could be handled on a local level by our reinstatement as professional employees and receiving a competitive salary scale.

If not, then it is our desire that you would join us in our effort to change the TASB recommendations and get an updated opinion from the Department of Labor that truly reflects our training, skill level, and our worth to all school districts and the children of Texas. If this sort of implementation spreads across the state then employing qualified, skilled professional COTAs will be hindered as the need for our services to students is continuing to rise on an annual basis.

We thank you for your time,

Michael Smith, COTA   

Shelbie Townsend, COTA