Anyone who thinks that Mayor Bloomberg and his team are saying anything new or shocking with the news that all tenured teachers who are charged with anything will be fired, has had his or her head in the sand for 10 years.
In 2007 I posted Corporate Counsel Michael Cardozo's document which urged the US Department of Justice to remove all voting rights from NYC and placed a puppet show in place of the New York City Board of Education. The puppet show is, of course, The Panel for Educational Policy, and the puppets are the appointed members.
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| Patrick Sullivan |
In order for Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer to get ahead in the race for Mayor, so-called "education reformers" pushed a public relations
campaign for PEP member Patrick Sullivan, the Stringer appointee, that even
Howard Rubenstein would be proud of. But the curtain fell on this act, as more
and more people realized that this puppet show had to close, Sullivan included.Ten years of failed policies, kids neglected, scores faked and changed. New York City is indeed in education shambles. Now the media is assisting Bloomberg in his final act, getting rid of any teacher who a principal did not like.
N.Y.C. Seeks Changes in Disciplining Teachers Accused of Sexual Misconduct
New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg proposed new legislation that would give local school districts or the chancellor—as opposed to hearing officers—the final say on whether a teacher accused of sexual misconduct is fired, according to a press release.
Under the current law, outside hearing officers decide on the cases and impose binding penalties. A statement from the mayor's office, however, claims that the law has prevented the Department of Education from terminating teachers, even after an outside investigator concluded there had been inappropriate sexual conduct. The mayor's press release provides an example:
[T]he Special Commissioner of Investigation (SCI) found one teacher inappropriately touched a number of female students' buttocks, breasts, waists, stomachs and necks. The Department of Education filed charges to dismiss the individual—the second such attempt. However, the hearing officer determined that the individual hugged one student and hugged and tickled another on her waist, dismissing or withdrawing all other charges. The hearing officer imposed only a 45-day paid suspension and then permitted the teacher to return to the classroom.
The new law would allow districts to review a hearing officer's decision and make the final determination about what disciplinary action to take.
Michael Mulgrew, president of the United Federation of Teachers, responded to the proposed changes in a press release, stating that the union's contract "already includes the toughest penalty in the state—automatic termination—for any teacher found guilty of this offense." Further, Mulgrew said, "this proposed legislation would allow the chancellor to unilaterally find an employee guilty of sexual misconduct even though an independent hearing officer who has weighed all the evidence has determined otherwise."
It's a shameful reality that these kinds of cases even come up, but they do and, as anyone reading teacher news daily knows, quite often. We'll keep you posted on where all of this goes.
City wants power to fire teachers accused of sexual misconduct
Mayor Bloomberg, Chancellor Walcott propose legislation that would give school districts final say
Comments (9)BY BEN CHAPMAN / NEW YORK DAILY NEWS
Published: Tuesday, May 29, 2012, 2:00 PM
Updated: Tuesday, May 29, 2012, 2:00 PM
The city is pushing to change a state law and give educrats the power to boot teachers who engage in pervy behavior.
Mayor Bloomberg and Chancellor Dennis Walcott are seeking legislation that would give school districts — not
arbitrators — the final say on whether school staffers who commit sexual misconduct can keep their jobs.
arbitrators — the final say on whether school staffers who commit sexual misconduct can keep their jobs.
Under the proposed change, the independent arbitrators’ decisions on discipline wouldn’t be binding — as they are now — and would instead be used to advise school districts in their decisions.
“Our students deserve a safe learning environment and any process that puts student safety in the hands of an arbitrator instead of me is not a process that serves our children,” Walcott said.
Bloomberg said the power to fire suspect teachers must be yanked from the arbitrators because “their interest is in getting reappointed, rather than doing what’s right.”
Tenured employees could still appeal the rulings, which city officials said were consistent with due process proceedings for other municipal employees.
The United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew questioned allowing the chancellor to boot an employee after an arbitrator weighed all the evidence and didn’t find the offense fireable.
State Sen. Stephen Saland (R-Poughkeepsie) will sponsor the bill, but it’s unlikely it could pass both houses of the Legislature before the session ends on June 21.
State Sen. Stephen Saland (R-Poughkeepsie) will sponsor the bill, but it’s unlikely it could pass both houses of the Legislature before the session ends on June 21.
The proposal comes during an alarming spike in arrests of agency employees this year, including at least seven for sex crimes.
Prompted by the jump, Walcott reviewed allegations against school employees dating back to 2001.
The city moved to fire eight staffers, but Walcott singled out another 16 whom he believed should be out of the system but were cleared by
arbitrators.
arbitrators.
One such teacher was Stanley Feldman, a gym teacher at Boys and Girls High School. He was accused of telling a 17-year-old student, “When you turn 18 years old, you could come to my home and we can have a real party.” The hearing officer didn’t find student witnesses credible, but charged Feldman with a $1,500 fine.
Feldman told The News last year, “It’s all false and found to be false.”
With Rachel Monahan and Kenneth Lovett
bchapman@nydailynews.com
bchapman@nydailynews.com
bchapman@nydailynews.com