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Betsy Combier
City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña has had internal discussions with her staff about placing most of the 1,200 educators in full-time teaching jobs even though about half have disciplinary histories or unsatisfactory ratings, sources said.
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A pool of teachers who principals don’t want to hire may be headed back into the classroom, the Daily News has learned.
City Schools Chancellor Carmen Fariña has had internal discussions with her staff about placing most of the 1,200 educators in full-time teaching jobs even though about half have disciplinary histories or unsatisfactory ratings, sources said.
The move would be a sharp reversal of a policy instituted under Mayor Michael Bloomberg in 2005 to have the teachers rotate as subs instead of foisting them on principals who didn’t want them.
Bloomberg instituted the current policy under a deal with teachers union President Michael Mulgrew (pictured.) The union’s support would be needed to undo it.
But moving the teachers back into classrooms would save the city an estimated $100 million a year — money that could be allocated elsewhere.
The unassigned teachers lost their full-time jobs for a variety of reasons — 25% committed wrongdoing, 25% received an “unsatisfactory” rating, 40% worked in schools that closed or downsized and 10% teach subjects that are no longer offered in schools.
They are different from the so-called rubber room staff who are banned from the classroom.
The unassigned teachers lost their full-time jobs for a variety of reasons — 25% committed wrongdoing, 25% received an “unsatisfactory” rating, 40% worked in schools that closed or downsized and 10% teach subjects that are no longer offered in schools.
The pool of unassigned teachers includes Edgar Ortiz, 65, from Public School 73 in the Bronx, who makes $89,307 and was arrested for patronizing a prostitute in 2012. A hearing officer slapped him with a $7,500 fine.
Also in the pool is Damian Esteban, 34, arrested in 2012 for bringing heroin to jury duty.
The teacher at Williamsburg High School for Architecture and Design in Brooklyn — a recovering drug addict — was spared dismissal after a hearing officer said it would be “excessive” to fire him.
Members of Mayor de Blasio’s transition team have also discussed the idea of putting the unassigned teachers back in classrooms, the sources said.
“They’re in (the unassigned pool) for a reason,” said Marvin Shelton, a public school parent and president of Community Education Council 10 in the Bronx. “Sending them back into the classroom is not the answer.”
Members of Mayor de Blasio’s transition team have also discussed the idea of putting the unassigned teachers back in classrooms, the sources said.
Bloomberg instituted the current policy under a deal with teachers union President Michael Mulgrew. The union’s support would be needed to undo it.
An Education Department spokesman denied that a plan is in the works, while a teachers union spokesman refused to comment.
With Ben Chapman
clestch@nydailynews.com
Members of Mayor de Blasio’s transition team have also discussed the idea of putting the unassigned teachers back in classrooms, the sources said.
Bloomberg instituted the current policy under a deal with teachers union President Michael Mulgrew. The union’s support would be needed to undo it.
An Education Department spokesman denied that a plan is in the works, while a teachers union spokesman refused to comment.
With Ben Chapman
clestch@nydailynews.com