My name is Pablo Antunez, and I’ve recently and unfortunately been fired from my job as a Special Education teacher. I am deeply disheartened by the circumstances, as working with my students and their families has been an incredibly unique and rewarding experience. Teaching is my passion and I am in the last semester of my Master’s program in Special Education and I find myself reaching out to my community for your help to support me through my final leg of graduate school. I am halfway through an accelerated program at San Jose State University and hope to graduate in May of this year! I hope to continue my educational career as a school administrator so I may advocate for my students and their families, cultivate meaningful relationships, and support teachers in uplifting our students and truly meeting them where they’re at. This is something I feel I was hindered from in my previous work environment. People in charge consistently told me that our students are at the center focus, but would make decisions that contradicted that notion. As we see attacks on education and marginalized communities throughout our country, it is imperative, now more than ever, to stand up and advocate for the most vulnerable.

At my previous charter school, I was told that I am failing my students and their test scores prove it. "How are you going to tell this parent that their child will not meet 1 year's growth?" they tell me. "We've all had hard times. But all of us have gotten through grad school before, too." The director of schools tells me, "What if your best isn't enough?". To me, these types of administrators are not in education for the child that shows up to learn. Halfway through the fall semester of the 25.26 school year, I asked for a change in manager as I saw no change in his management style and I had been written up twice for seemingly differences in opinions we shared. My experience, relationships with students, and years of teaching were dismissed and I was told to limit the amount of help I gave. I disagreed with my administrator, yet I was told to give him a chance as it was his first time managing people. I was asked to show empathy and patience to this individual who had been working in education for nearly 10 years, yet these core values were simply not shown to me as a teacher.

Attacks on the Department of Education have reduced available financial aid for many fields, including special education. Schools are receiving less funding and children will show up to school hungry. Students with special needs become data points instead of someone who needs very individualized academics. I hope to continue my educational career and have high hopes of returning to work in schools as an administrator who can correctly support teachers and students alike. So that educators see behavior as a means of communication, instead of something that needs fixing.

On top of all of these hurdles, my degree requires student teaching which is sadly unpaid. I hope to secure alternative and part time streams of income, such as tutoring, but in the meantime, I ask for your help to get through these last few months of grad school until I can graduate and secure full time work once again. These funds would go toward rent, tuition, and basic expenses such as utilities, food, and hygiene products.

I am endlessly grateful for the support of my community and the relationships I have built throughout my educational career. I truly couldn’t have gotten this far without my colleagues, friends, family, and of course, my students and their families! To give back to my community I would love to offer tutoring services to families with students that are behind on their academic reading and math levels. I can tutor parents of children with behavioral concerns to alleviate the struggle of completing homework as a team. I will still be here to help these kiddos meet their unlimited potential. Using the information I learned from the previous semester, I can advocate and inform parents about their rights relating to Special Education and IEPs!

Anything helps, so please consider giving what you can to help me get through these next few months and complete my degree in May, and please share. Thank you for your generosity, kindness, and time.

Mr. Pablo ‍