{"id":8575,"date":"2026-03-02T14:45:51","date_gmt":"2026-03-02T19:45:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/?p=8575"},"modified":"2026-04-02T10:01:46","modified_gmt":"2026-04-02T14:01:46","slug":"value-of-the-union-pay-increases-a-big-win-for-special-ed-assistants-at-school-for-the-deaf-school-for-the-blind","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-44-no-2\/value-of-the-union-pay-increases-a-big-win-for-special-ed-assistants-at-school-for-the-deaf-school-for-the-blind\/","title":{"rendered":"VALUE OF THE UNION: Pay increases a big win for special ed assistants at School for the Deaf, School for the Blind"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Value<\/h3>\n

Big salary win for special ed assistants at School for the Deaf, School for the Blind \/ Salary upgrades fought for by PEF worth thousands of dollars for some members<\/em><\/strong><\/h3>\n

\"Money-IncreaseMarch 13, 2026 — <\/em>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\u00a0won significant salary upgrades, new skill-based pay for Braille and American Sign Language proficiency, and no givebacks\u00a0under a newly negotiated Memorandum of Agreement.<\/p>\n

The agreement delivers long-overdue pay recognition for the workers who support students throughout the school day \u2014 from helping them navigate buses during arrival and dismissal to assisting in classrooms and supervising meals.<\/p>\n

\u201cThis Memorandum of Agreement delivers real gains for our members,\u201d said\u00a0PEF President Wayne Spence. \u201cSpecial 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

The salary upgrades are retroactive to\u00a0April 1, 2025, and will place SEAs into higher salary grades based on their education and certification levels:<\/p>\n

    \n
  • Employees with a high school diploma or equivalent will move to Salary Grade 6<\/li>\n
  • Employees with a Level I or Level II Teaching Assistant certification will move to Salary Grade 7<\/li>\n
  • Employees with a Level III Teaching Assistant certification or Teaching Assistant Continuing Education certificate will move to Salary Grade 9<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n

    Employees who have already earned continuing certificates will be\u00a0grandfathered into the higher salary grades.<\/p>\n

    For SEAs, these upgrades represent meaningful increases in annual salary.\u00a0 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.<\/p>\n

    The agreement also establishes\u00a0annual stipends for demonstrated proficiency in Braille or American Sign Language (ASL)\u2014specialized skills critical to supporting deaf and blind students. Stipends will range from\u00a0$500 at the novice level to $2,500 at the superior level.<\/p>\n

    PEF members on the contract team credited strong member advocacy and sustained union pressure for advancing the agreement.<\/p>\n

    \u201cFor the past three years, our school contract teams have worked to ensure SEAs are recognized for the critical role they play in our schools,\u201d said\u00a0William Wiley, a contract team member from the School for the Deaf. \u201cThis agreement is a big step forward and long overdue.\u201d<\/p>\n

    In the\u00a02023\u201326 collective bargaining agreement, PEF secured a side letter directing the\u00a0Department of Civil Service\u00a0to conduct a salary study comparing SEAs with teaching assistants working at the\u00a0Department of Corrections and Community Supervision\u00a0and the\u00a0Office of Children and Family Services. The study confirmed that SEAs at the School for the Deaf and the School for the Blind were underpaid.<\/p>\n

    After the study was completed in 2025,\u00a0PEF pushed the State Education Department to act on the findings, leading to the salary upgrades included in the new agreement.<\/p>\n

    \u201cIt was an honor to serve on the contract team that helped secure this agreement,\u201d said\u00a0Theresa Ash, who represented members at the School for the Blind. \u201cThese 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.\u201d<\/p>\n

    The\u00a0New York State School for the Deaf in Rome\u00a0provides residential and educational services for students who are deaf or hard of hearing from infancy through age 21. The\u00a0New York State School for the Blind in Batavia\u00a0provides day and residential programming designed to help students build independence and reach their highest potential.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

    Big salary win for special ed assistants at School for the Deaf, School for the Blind \/ Salary upgrades fought for by PEF worth thousands of dollars for some members…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":13,"featured_media":8578,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"division":[],"allowed_regions":[],"allowed_divisions":[],"class_list":["post-8575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","issue-volume-44-no-2","issue-volume-44-no-3"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nVALUE OF THE UNION: Pay increases a big win for special ed assistants at School for the Deaf, School for the Blind - PEF Communicator<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-44-no-2\/value-of-the-union-pay-increases-a-big-win-for-special-ed-assistants-at-school-for-the-deaf-school-for-the-blind\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"VALUE OF THE UNION: Pay increases a big win for special ed assistants at School for the Deaf, School for the Blind\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Big salary win for special ed assistants at School for the Deaf, School for the Blind \/ Salary upgrades fought for by PEF worth thousands of dollars for some members...\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/issue\/volume-44-no-2\/value-of-the-union-pay-increases-a-big-win-for-special-ed-assistants-at-school-for-the-deaf-school-for-the-blind\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"PEF Communicator\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2026-03-02T19:45:51+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2026-04-02T14:01:46+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/communicator.pef.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2026\/03\/Value-Feature.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"640\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"435\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"ksheehan\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"ksheehan\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"4 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-2\\\/value-of-the-union-pay-increases-a-big-win-for-special-ed-assistants-at-school-for-the-deaf-school-for-the-blind\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-2\\\/value-of-the-union-pay-increases-a-big-win-for-special-ed-assistants-at-school-for-the-deaf-school-for-the-blind\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"ksheehan\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/b56382350a9a958e03dcd60443bfbf7e\"},\"headline\":\"VALUE OF THE UNION: Pay increases a big win for special ed assistants at School for the Deaf, School for the Blind\",\"datePublished\":\"2026-03-02T19:45:51+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2026-04-02T14:01:46+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-2\\\/value-of-the-union-pay-increases-a-big-win-for-special-ed-assistants-at-school-for-the-deaf-school-for-the-blind\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":639,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-2\\\/value-of-the-union-pay-increases-a-big-win-for-special-ed-assistants-at-school-for-the-deaf-school-for-the-blind\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/sites\\\/2\\\/2026\\\/03\\\/Value-Feature.jpg\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-2\\\/value-of-the-union-pay-increases-a-big-win-for-special-ed-assistants-at-school-for-the-deaf-school-for-the-blind\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/communicator.pef.org\\\/issue\\\/volume-44-no-2\\\/value-of-the-union-pay-increases-a-big-win-for-special-ed-assistants-at-school-for-the-deaf-school-for-the-blind\\\/\",\"name\":\"VALUE OF THE UNION: Pay increases a big win for special ed assistants at School for the Deaf, School for the Blind - 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