In a new survey from Public Advocate Betsy Gotbaum's office, school psychologists and social workers say they're struggling under the dual demands of the education bureaucracy and the needy students they're assigned to serve.

Nine in ten mental-health professionals surveyed say that case management chores take time away from meeting with students and families. The 86 school psychologists and social workers now assigned to the Absent Teacher Reserve, to the annual tune of $7.1 million, are working as subs and temporary teachers instead of counseling and evaluating students, even as the demand for their professional services has increased, with new special-ed structures, not to mention a 43% rise in new schools and 60,000 additional special-education students in New York City since mental-health staffing minimums were set -- twenty years ago.

Click herefor more and a link (pdf) to the full report.