Superintendent’s Notebook: Ed techs punch above their weight By Xavier Botana Share Educational technicians – better known as ed techs – are the glue that holds schools together. I speak from experience: I started my career as an ed tech. Principals and teachers rely on ed techs. Portland Public Schools has 235 ed techs – almost 1 in 5 of our employees. Their titles give a sense of the range of work they do. We have regular classroom ed techs and also media/library, special education, functional life skills, computer, PATHS and ELL ed techs, as well as med techs. In general, ed techs help students reach academic and behavioral goals, provide supervision, establish vital one-on-one relationships with students and collaborate closely with staff and parents.