Because the schools care more about the teachers than the students

July 8, 2007 -- A public-school teacher accused of raping a student is still pocketing her city paycheck - thanks to a disciplinary system that critics say has too few hearing officers, too many bureaucratic delays and rules that make axing tenured teachers tough.

Up to 24 other teachers who were recommended for termination by the city's special schools investigator this year could also still be on the payroll, according to the Department of Education.
The inability to immediately fire teachers charged with wrongdoing by cops or school investigators creates an "undue burden on taxpayers," said DOE spokeswoman Melody Meyer.

Marcia Amsterdam, 31, a tenured speech teacher at JHS 166 in Brooklyn, was
arrested in March for allegedly raping and sexually assaulting a 13-year-old
student.
The bust came after a probe by Special Commissioner of
Investigation Richard Condon, who ruled she had sex with the teen and
recommended she be fired.
But Amsterdam - who pleaded not guilty to the
criminal charges in May - collected paychecks for March, April, May and June,
the DOE said. Amsterdam, a teacher for eight years, earns a minimum of $50,000
per year.

According to Condon's office, 45 DOE employees - including 25 teachers - have
been recommended for termination so far in 2007 following investigations.
Only five of those employees, all without tenure, were axed.
Two other
nontenured employees are in the process of being fired, the DOE said. Another
nontenured employee recommended for firing is still on the payroll because the
DOE disagreed with Condon's findings. The other employees are tenured and "all
have charges brought against them in our disciplinary hearing process," Meyer
said.

Tenured teachers continue to get paid, as their contract provides, through the often painfully slow arbitration process.
"The formal charge and hearing process . . . is arduous," Meyer said.
One cause for the slow pace is a hearing backlog. By contract, independent arbitrators must lead disciplinary hearings. The contract allows for 20 officers, but there are currently only 14.
Also, the DOE is not allowed to begin the arbitration process until the criminal case has concluded. Although there is a stipulation in the teachers contract allowing the DOE to freeze the pay of teachers involved in sex crimes even while a criminal trial is going on, a "probable-cause hearing" is needed.
In Amsterdam's case, Meyer said the DOE is "pursuing a probable-cause hearing."
The DOE wants tenured teachers taken off the payroll once charges are substantiated, she said.
United Federation of Teachers spokesman Ron Davis said that "sounds like an awful idea."
"If a teacher does something that merits dismissal, then they should be removed from the classroom," Davis said. "But not before they have due process."