TEACHER ABUSE
NEW YORK CITY PUBLIC SCHOOLS :
A TEACHER'S JOURNEY
TO THE END OF THE NIGHT
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This web site is dedicated to hundreds teachers and other schools staff members -- guidance counselors, psychologists, payroll secretaries, paraprofessionals, etc. -- falsely accused by students or administrators of misconduct, languishing in the rubber room, denied due process, and who have endured the most abject indignities as I have. I was removed from the classroom on December 7, 2004 for accusations unknown to me until I received the OSI's report in May 2007. Integrity and competence are not the DOE's administrators' forte. Predictably, this website has become an issue : it eclipsed the initial, flimsy allegations. To intimidate me into shutting it down, they are now accusing me of violating my students'privacy by posting their confidential records (e.g. grades) ! What for ? The purpose of the website is to expose their incompetence and their abuse ; it is not about students records. Their evidence ? Material illegally downloaded from the server that hosts the website : I am looking for a
lawyer to represent me on a contingent fee basis : the case is a shoo-in :
"Computer hacking is not an acceptable discovery technique. Hacking, for whatever purpose, is unacceptable." (S.Christie, a former federal prosecutor who headed the computer hacking and intellectual property unit of the U.S. Attorney's Office in New Jersey. )
I borrowed this website's title from Voyage au bout de la nuit, by Louis-Ferdinand Celine (1932), a grim novel on a shuddering facet of human condition, based on the writer's vivid experience : it is about "hallucinations which reality provokes" (Andre Gide), not unlike the ones we experience, as teachers, in New York City public schools. The purpose of the site is to recount a hallucinatory journey into a system deserted by the light of reason, as embodied by three rogue principals (below) and their cronies -- a medieval system in which corruption and impunity reign. In former Chancellor Joseph Fernandez's words "How some of the people there [ New York City] ever got into education in the first place is beyond me." ( Tales Out Of School , Little Brown and Company, 1993.)
How do you explain the wholesale violation of teachers' constitutional rights by the Department of Education -- a governmental agency widely known as corrupt and incompetent -- , amidst general indifference ? Indifference to teachers' plight... indifference to million dollars wasted on maintaining a dozen facilities to imprison them -- many on trumped-up charges -- and paying substitutes to replace them.
Teachers, perennial bogeypeople, and scapegoats used by incompetent "educrats" to cover their miserable failure to provide the right leadership to bring a decent education to the city's children, are determined to fight back : Teachers4action, an organization created in response to the DOE's abuse, has filed a complaint in federal court on 1/21/08. The DOE retaliated against the organization's president, Florian Lowenstein, over the letter he sent to mayor Bloomberg on January 15 about the violations of teachers' due process and constitutional rights : he was sent back to the rubber room on that day with new allegations of verbal abuse (of students). You entrust these people with your children's education , far from imagining them being abjectly used to make false accusations against teachers. It is illegal, immoral and ignoble -- it is really tragic that the general public entertain such rosy assumptions about school administrators. Click here for the timeline of my story.
Breaking the Silence: Overcoming the Problem of Principal Mistreatment of Teachers
RUBBER ROOM
TEACHERS TAKE LEGAL ACTION OVER THE VIOLATION
OF
THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS & DUE PROCESS
Teachers4Action
vs
Bloomberg, Klein, DOE, Weingarten, UFT
First Cause of Action :
Violation / Interference with Constitutionally Protected Rights – 1 st , 5 th & 14 th Amendement,
Freedom of Speech & Association and Due Process & Equal Protection Rights...
RICHARD KRINSKY , ESQ. :
A Former Social Studies Teacher at Madison HS, Former Rubber Room's Inmate
Turned Lawyer Turned RAT |
I met and befriended Rich in the Rubber Room, a rat-infested basement of a DOE building located at East Parkway @ Bedford Ave, Brooklyn. We had stimulating conversations. He is bright, the type the DOE's single-digit IQ principals/ assistant principals resent : they feel insecure. When they fired him, he dust up his law license and started defending Rubber Room inmates in 3020-a proceedings, in effect, thumbing his nose at the DOE. A couple of months ago I distributed his flyers at Staten Island Rubber Room where I have been confined for the last three years and half, to help him find clients. The moment he heard that I joined Teachers4action's federal lawsuit, Rich started to bombard me with emails, in an effort to persuade me to drop out of the lawsuit. He sent me first all kind of information denigrating our attorney, Ed Fagan (I know a lot about allegations !) ; next, my genial , cocky rooster tried to prove how "amateurish" the seasoned lawyer was by sending me tons of cases supposedly supporting his views, without telling me that he was sending some to our ennemies, as well ! Never mind if he never practiced the law until recently. On February 2, 2008, I got fed up, and sent him an email with "Debate is Over" in the subject line :
"
Rich, It's about time to move on -- make this message of yours the last on the subject. I don't wanna hear anymore your bitter criticism
of Ed Fagan and our case. I made a choice, I will stick to it.
"
In his insidious campaign to undermine our lawsuit -- I was not his only target -- , Krinsky crossed the line, to my dismay, by leaking Teachers4action's confidential information to Theresa Europe,
Deputy Counsel to the Chancellor, Director of the Administrative Trials Unit at the DOE's legal department, with CC's, Oh Lord, to arbitrators presiding over Teachers4action's members 3020-a hearings. Why, Rich ? Seeking a job with the DOE, the way my favorite "teachers' advocate", Betsy Combier, did with the UFT ? We should thank you anyway because the arbitrators did not disclose your emails to the respondents as they should have, and that is a ground for removing them -- Ed Fagan is fiercely working on it. The emails episode compounded another unethical conduct uncovered by Edward Fagan : ex-parte communications between arbitrators and the DOE (see next box below.) In pre-Klein era 3020-a proceedings were conducted alternately at the DOE premises and the UFT's headquarters. They are now exclusively conducted at the DOE's building at 49-51 Chambers Street, giving the employer a psychological advantage,and the opportunity to dominate the proceedings and facilitate its ex-parte communications with arbitrators.
Unmercifully, Ed Fagan has been pursuing the Krinsky's emails scandal : he requested and obtained from the court the deposition of Theresa Europe, former OSI's director demoted for incompetence, who is now going after senior teachers with 10 to 20 years of experience for ... incompetence !
Facts About Theresa Europe's Deposition
Krinsky's Emails To DOE and Arbitrators Presiding Over Teachers4action's Members 3020-a Hearings
Krinsky's "Ratting" Exhibits
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TEACHERS4ACTION PETITIONS THE SUPREME COURT TO DISQUALIFY THE 3020-A PANEL OF ARBITRATORS
FOR, BUT NOT LIMITED TO , COLLUSION WITH THE DOE AND/OR VIOLATING THE AAA RULES
SHORT VERSION
FULL DOCUMENT
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RESTRAINING ORDER
A Supreme Court judge put an end to the nefarious Internet libel & defamation campaign against
Teachers4action 's attorney, Edward Fagan, and his family, and the campaign to interfere with our lawsuit
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BREACH OF FIDUCIARY DUTY :
THE NYSUT DENIES TEACHERS4ACTION'S MEMBERS LEGAL REPRESENTATION
IN THE 3020-A PROCEEDING, AS A RETALIATION FOR OUR LAWSUIT
If you received a letter like this from NYSUT, do not worry ! Every UFT teacher has a right to an attorney provided and paid for by the UFT. If you got such a letter and have questions, speak to a fellow teacher or to an independent lawyer or to a Teachers4Action member or to one of the Teachers4Action 3020-a Advisory Counsel.
... legal, legislative, or otherwise.
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“I don't want arbitration. I want to be taken off this conveyor belt to death”
says a teacher in the Rubber Room
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Rubber Room, where nearly 800 educators wait for their fates for years, as the DOE withholds information on the allegations made against them -- in my case, scheduled for late February 2008, I was banished on 12/7/2004 on allegations that proved flimsy.
My colleague's desperation stems from the profound mistrust of the discredited NY Education Law §§ 3020a proceeding in NYC. Our union, the UFT, long on rethorics, but short on substance and action, is part of the problem, not the solution, that's why we are suing them : they live off our dues, but are unwilling to stand up for our rights :
Hearing officers are chosen jointly by the DOE and the UFT, but are paid for by the New York State Education Department. With New York City officers making up to $1,900 a day , it's a lucrative part-time job [ as compared to their usual rate under $1000], which some critics say leads these officers to overly compromising opinions. "You make a lot of money," says Julia Cohen, a lawyer who specializes in education law."You want to satisfy both sides."
The Village Voice April 24th, 2007
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RUBBER ROOM
IN THE MEDIA :
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"Meanwhile, some 700 sit collecting their paychecks in "rubber rooms" - limbo centers created by union rules that make it nearly impossible to fire incompetent, and sometimes criminal, teachers."
The New York Post 11/16/07 Editorial
Historically, the teacher-bashing right wing paper is well known as the DOE's mouth piece and attack dog, but its virulence has reached a new height under the Bloomberg-Klein's tenure. The charts in the second column of this page conflict with their odious, inflammatory misrepresentation of the magnitude of teachers' misconduct in general in NYC Public Schools, and of child molestation in particular. For the decade 1995-2005, the 3020a data show that
1) on average, 203 teachers were charged (not convicted as mistakenly posted earlier) of various offenses under 3020a proceedings, with 30 acquitted.
2) on average, 33 were charged for various sexual offenses -- from remarks of sexual nature to molestation -- with 10 acquitted. Again : for a whole decade.
And yet, the Post's venomous articles over the last two years conveyed a false sense of crisis -- a school system besieged by teachers sexual predators. Think of it : why would only NY Post (and the Daily News) cover such "crisis" if it were true ? Are we enjoying some kind of immunity, not extended to catholic priests ? Sewage journalism is not uncommon, but it becomes highly worrisome when its poison percolates into people's minds with such efficiency.
Meet
Col Allan, New York Post's
editor-in-chief
(disinformation-in-chief would be more accurate.)
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MYRNA WALTERS, ERASMUS HALL H.S.
FOR BUSINESS & TECHNOLOGY
Where Affirmation Action Goes Awry
Mediocrity Perpetuating Itself
She was hired in 1995 by a "sister", Joyce Copin, the then Broolyn High Schools Superintendent, epitome of incompetence and tyranny, a token minority for a school district where 64 % of students are blacks or Hispanics. She owed them her position but she failed them. For instance, they had to wait for years until Chancellor Joel Klein came in and address their low enrollement in elite schools and "gifted" programs , in the face of hostility from white college-educated parents.
School Closed in 2005
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Dr. JOEL SHAPIRO,
CANARSIE HIGH SCHOOL
Incompetence
& Unethical Behavior as Second Nature
Haughty, he could be seen listening to classic music and smoking cigars in his office, which is illegal. Indifferent to drug-dealing in the school. Disrespecful to teachers. A memorable episod of his tenure : a score of teachers stormed his office and demanded that he apologize to their chapter leader he publicly berated -- shaking, the coward complied. The cripto-racist -- minorities were his pool for the rubber room --, was forcibly sent to retirement in 12/2004.
School Closed in 2007
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Dr. MICHAEL WILTSHIRE,
MEDGAR EVERS PREPARATORY SCHOOL
For what shall it profit a man, if he shall gain the
whole world, but lose his own soul? Mark 8:36
Striking Credentials
Fired after 1 year in the job, reinstated within weeks thanks to protectors ; twice investigated for sexually harassing
two female teachers; engaged in academic fraud to complete his doctorate ; tampers with grades to artificially increase graduation rate, something that needs scrutiny more than ever, the school being now an "empowerment school", i.e. more autonomous in exchange for .... higher graduation rate, among other things.
A Dunce Who Paid People To Do His Academic Assignments
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Frequency of 3020-a Charges
1995 -2005 statewide |
Charges |
Count |
% of Total |
| Incompetence |
176 |
30% |
Improper Student Contact |
128 |
22% |
Corporal Punishment |
59 |
10% |
Insubordination |
47 |
8% |
Off Campus Misconduct |
42 |
7% |
Student Safety |
21 |
4% |
Cheating |
21 |
4% |
Lack of Certification |
9 |
2% |
Source : New York State School Boards Association
3020-a Decisions statewide |
| Year (1995-2005) |
95 |
96 |
97 |
98 |
99 |
00 |
01 |
02 |
03 |
04 |
05 |
Total |
| Terminate |
8 |
8 |
10 |
8 |
10 |
15 |
13 |
22 |
34 |
22 |
20 |
170 |
| Unpaid Suspension |
9 |
5 |
16 |
11 |
14 |
19 |
24 |
21 |
28 |
32 |
34 |
213 |
| Fine |
2 |
3 |
5 |
5 |
5 |
4 |
5 |
5 |
11 |
11 |
17 |
73 |
| Reprimand |
0 |
1 |
3 |
1 |
0 |
5 |
7 |
3 |
2 |
3 |
3 |
28 |
| Acquit |
3 |
4 |
8 |
3 |
5 |
11 |
17 |
16 |
10 |
4 |
4 |
85 |
| Other |
0 |
0 |
0 |
1 |
0 |
0 |
4 |
0 |
1 |
3 |
2 |
11 |
| Total |
22 |
21 |
42 |
29 |
34 |
54 |
70 |
67 |
86 |
75 |
80 |
580 |
In 2001, 13 teachers were terminated, 24 suspended without pay,
5 were fined, 7 reprimanded : less than 50 in total were punished for various misconducts for the whole state. Since the DOE and the UFT refuse to release NYC's figures, we will estimate them. 226,000 teachers work in New York state, with approximately 80,000 in NYC, i.e. 35 % of the total. Compare 35% of 50 (less than 18) to the 4326 city teachers accused of corporal punishment,with 1514 cases "substantiated", in 2001, according to Daily News :
Although teachers are forbidden to use physical force to discipline students, a Daily News investigation found that such allegations against teachers are rising.Last year, 4,326 city teachers were accused of corporal punishment - 200 more than the year before, Board of Education records show. Outpacing the rise in complaints was a 36% jump in the number of charges substantiated by principals or Board of Education investigators. A total of 1,514 cases were substantiated - meaning some evidence was found to support the charge - last year. That's 400 more than in 2000. ( Daily News January 29, 2002)
Let us convert this statement into a chart form :
Years |
2000 |
2001 |
Number of cases |
4126 |
4326 |
Number of "substantiated" cases |
1114 |
1514 |
Statewide, 580 substantiated cases -- all categories, including corporal punishment-- went to the 3020-a proceeding.
Where have the DOE's substantiated cases gone ? If they existed at all, they shoud have been prosecuted in 2001 and later. Now, statistics for 2001, 2002,2003,2004,and 2005 do not reflect this "child abuse" epidemic :
54 + 70 + 67 + 86 + 75+ 80 = 432
substantiated cases -- all categories -- prosecuted statewide.
Even if we take into account the fact that the DOE have certainly terminated the majority because they were not tenured (which would exclude them from the above statistics) , the so-called "substantiated" numbers remain dubious, to say the least. There seemed to be the first salvos of disinformation concocted by the new chancellor in what would be a protracted war against teachers.(His tenure started in 2002 precisely.)
Once again, the number of 3020a cases for the whole decade 1995-2005 for the entire state is 580. On average, 35% of 580 or 203, were charged of misconduct in NYC over an entire decade, as opposed to the 800 currently imprisoned in the rubber rooms : teacher abuse under the Klein's administration is undisputable. The main reason of this obscenity is fiscal : DOE saves money by forcing senior teachers to resign or retire. Buying them out would be more honorable than falsely accusing them of misconduct, after they serve the institution for two or three decades.
DOE's assault on teachers unabetted
Years |
Number of Inmates |
March 2005 |
315 |
March 2006 |
500 |
March 2007 |
651 |
Sept. 2007 |
757 |
New York Post, 9/30/07
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It is quite disturbing that this went on for so long under the UFT's watch. I am disappointed that Randi Weingarten, the UFT's president, would not release the NYC statistics by invoking the privacy issue, which is disingenuous : do the above statistics violate someone's privacy ?
How many cases of sexual nature were recorded in the last decade ?
Please, read on.
Outcomes of 3020-a Cases Based on Improper Remarks, Physical Contact and Relationships of a Sexual Nature Involving Students
1994 -2005 statewide |
|
Acquitted |
Terminated |
Suspended Without Pay |
Fined |
Reprimanded |
Total |
Sexual relation with a student |
0 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
Improper contact of sexual nature |
17 |
10 |
13 |
1 |
5 |
46 |
Attempt to establish improper
relationship with a student |
1 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
11 |
Remark of sexual nature |
10 |
3 |
14 |
5 |
1 |
33 |
Total |
28 |
23 |
31 |
7 |
6 |
95 |
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The number of convicted teacher child molesters for a whole decade in the entire state with its 226,000 teachers ? Not the hundreds. No : 23 terminated , 31 suspended without pay,7 fined. In total, 61 cases for 12 years for the entire state : on average 5 molesters per year over 12 years ! Less than 2 cases in NYC public schools on average : 1.75 to 1,100,000 million students. Compare this figure to Roman Catholic's pedophile cases, for instance.
Klein's tenure started in 2002. Can someone explain why, all of sudden, the DOE engaged in its nauseous rethoric about child molesters in the rubber room ? The media are awashed with molesters stories. So, what happened in 2006 and 2007 that did not happen in the previous decade ? For one thing, media lover SCI lent a hand : they would trumpet the "great " number of "substantiated" cases which is not synonymous to guilty, and leak pending cases to the wolves. They substitute themselves for the judge and defame an entire profession with their insinuations.
In light of the magnitude and the systemic abuse of teachers, lawsuits against both the DOE and the UFT, such as Teachers4action's, are inevitable.
We cannot allow immoral, arrogant administrators to trample on our dignity and constitutional rights, in all impunity.
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Since when the visitors of a website have access to the directories of the site in question ?Here is the proof that the SCI broke into the server hosting this website. More specifically, Richard Marin, the director of the SCI's Information Systems, broke into a private server and downloaded an entire directory, MCHS, with subdirectories and files. The evidence was provided in a CD by the SCI itself, as part of the discovery of my administrative trial : it corroborates what I knew all along, thanks to the server log files.
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"Sexual abuse" is one of the most common ways for kids to
get back at teachers.
Helene Tarasow, NYC Guidance Counselor and Rubber Room Occupant,
referring to students threatening teachers with bringing
false accusations, a common practice in NYC schools
( quoted in www.rubberroommovie.com )
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STUDENT A CASE 04-8383
Student A asked for a makeup test. Teacher [Boubakar Fofana] refused. Student went to the principal [Michael Wiltshire ]. Principal instructed Teacher to give student test. When Principal left, Teacher threw test paper at student A causing a paper cut on her nose (...) Sometimes Teacher used cell phone in class for 5 minutes then hung up; spoke negatively about Dr. Wiltshire ; about how Dr. Wiltshire tried to steal his girlfriend. Student A felt that these personal issues are inappropriate. Teacher curses out students; curses at students individually...
From OSI's investigator R.C.'s
notes ( 3/7/2005 ) ,
made as he was interviewing student A,
a fifteen-year-old 10th grader
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STUDENT A CASE 04-8385
Student A was hot (.illegible) She asked Teacher if she could open the window. Teacher did not respond. Student A rose and opened the window. Teacher told student A "What the hell are you doing? Get out. Get the fuck out of the room", screaming teacher charged student A "Fucking idiot. Fucking stupid. Fucking ignorant" to student in this particular . This happened often.
From OSI's investigator R.C.'s notes ( 3/7/2005 ) ,
made as he was interviewing student A,
a sixteen-year-old 10th grader
Comments : In each case, the alleged abuse took place in a class of about 30. I love the phrase "This happened often". After the trial , I will be able to elaborate and provide more information.
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AGE DISCRIMINATION :
THE UFT 'S COMPLAINT WITH THE EEOC IN 2005
clearly shows how well informed the union was
about the rubber room's central issues : administrators abusing, framing and sending teachers to the rubber room, denying them the basic due process, vilifying them in the media as "criminals", and treating them as such in the reassigment centers. It takes months, if not years, before the reassigned teacher learns of the allegations made against him/her -- I am speaking from experience ! When does our union plan to take forceful, not symbolic, action against this obscene, systematic institutional abuse ? Members'complaints are getting louder and louder, and they are no longer reluctant about taking strong actions against the union. "Expediting cases" ,Randi's leitmotiv, is far from addressing our main concerns. The rubber room thing will be the defining moment of her leadership.
NYC'S Secret Guide
On Firing Teachers
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TEACHERS TENURE
"
We cannot afford to give lifetime job security to teachers who haven't helped their students learn."
Chancellor Klein, Daily News 4/8/08
While the DOE is misleading the public about teachers tenure and their alleged incomptence, corrupt, incompetent administrators are destroying the New York City Public Schools :
"In New York City, decades of law enforcement investigations, city and state audits, political commission reports, grand jury reports, citizen group studies, and media exposes paint a portrait of a school system that has been afflicted by wrongs : theft, extortion, political patronage, nepotism, bribery, fraud, and even murders and suicides." Battling Corruption, by Lydia G. Segal.
This has been going on since the inception of the public schools systems in the late nineteen century, which prompted the New York state's legislature to protect teachers by establishing the tenure law in 1917. Teachers tenure is about due process -- why would society grant teachers lifetime job security ?
When fish starts rotting, it is always from the head. A sample : | 1 | 2 | 3 |
What Tenure Is & What It Is Not
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Candlelight Vigil at DOE Headquarters
Light : Antidote To Darkness And Insanity
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HALL OF THE DOE'S INFAMY
Sample Of Bogus Charges Brought
Against Teachers and Other Staff Members
| 1 2 3 4 5 |
The information age gives you a unique opportunity to fight back. Don't let rogue principals and administrators abuse you in all impunity : expose them -- just facts and documentation. Put the Whistleblower's law into practice.
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