March 13, 2026 — After years of sustained advocacy by the Public Employees Federation, special education assistants (SEAs) at the New York State School for the Deaf and the New York State School for the Blind have won significant salary upgrades, new skill-based pay for Braille and American Sign Language proficiency, and no givebacks under a newly negotiated Memorandum of Agreement.
The agreement delivers long-overdue pay recognition for the workers who support students throughout the school day — from helping them navigate buses during arrival and dismissal to assisting in classrooms and supervising meals.
“This Memorandum of Agreement delivers real gains for our members,” said PEF President Wayne Spence. “Special education assistants perform essential work every day to support students who rely on them. These salary upgrades and skill-based stipends finally recognize the value of the work they do.”
The salary upgrades are retroactive to April 1, 2025, and will place SEAs into higher salary grades based on their education and certification levels:
- Employees with a high school diploma or equivalent will move to Salary Grade 6
- Employees with a Level I or Level II Teaching Assistant certification will move to Salary Grade 7
- Employees with a Level III Teaching Assistant certification or Teaching Assistant Continuing Education certificate will move to Salary Grade 9
Employees who have already earned continuing certificates will be grandfathered into the higher salary grades.
For SEAs, these upgrades represent meaningful increases in annual salary. Based on an individual SEAs’ education, certification level, and salary schedule step, almost all SEAs will see an increase in their annual salary ranging from approximately $1,200.00 to $7,900.00. The projected median increase will be $5,110.00.
The agreement also establishes annual stipends for demonstrated proficiency in Braille or American Sign Language (ASL)—specialized skills critical to supporting deaf and blind students. Stipends will range from $500 at the novice level to $2,500 at the superior level.
PEF members on the contract team credited strong member advocacy and sustained union pressure for advancing the agreement.
“For the past three years, our school contract teams have worked to ensure SEAs are recognized for the critical role they play in our schools,” said William Wiley, a contract team member from the School for the Deaf. “This agreement is a big step forward and long overdue.”
In the 2023–26 collective bargaining agreement, PEF secured a side letter directing the Department of Civil Service to conduct a salary study comparing SEAs with teaching assistants working at the Department of Corrections and Community Supervision and the Office of Children and Family Services. The study confirmed that SEAs at the School for the Deaf and the School for the Blind were underpaid.
After the study was completed in 2025, PEF pushed the State Education Department to act on the findings, leading to the salary upgrades included in the new agreement.
“It was an honor to serve on the contract team that helped secure this agreement,” said Theresa Ash, who represented members at the School for the Blind. “These state employees show up every day to support students and their families. It is a great achievement to see their compensation elevated to match their dedication to their profession. I want to thank everyone who advocated for the MOA and for the collaboration that occurred during the negotiation process.”
The New York State School for the Deaf in Rome provides residential and educational services for students who are deaf or hard of hearing from infancy through age 21. The New York State School for the Blind in Batavia provides day and residential programming designed to help students build independence and reach their highest potential.