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 -- I will when Hell freezes over -- , 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 :
"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.) For Joel Klein,Esq., boredom and never-satiated vanity come in mind. Thanks to the corruptive power of his billionaire friend, the mayor of New York City, he was appointed chancellor despite of his lack of education background. In no time , under his leadership, in the name of "school reform", the wholesale violation of teachers' constitutional rights by the Department of Education -- a governmental agency widely known as corrupt and incompetent -- , became routine amidst general indifference : indifference to teachers' plight and indifference to million dollars wasted on maintaining a dozen facilities to imprison them, literallly. Throughout the country incompetent "educrats" scapegoat teachers to cover up their miserable failure to provide the right leadership to bring a decent education to children, but Klein took the enterprise to another level : he set up a machinery to prosecute tenured teachers on trumped-up charges (e.g. competence) to force them to resign or get fired. Such assault could not go unchalleged. Teachers4action, an organization created in response to the abuse, has filed a complaint in federal court on 1/21/08. Shortly before, 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.
KANGAROO COURT
NYC DEPARTMENT OF EDUCATION v BOUBAKAR FOFANA
Under the Corrupt NYC Version of Section 3020-a Education Law Proceeding
As a member of Teachers4Action , an organization suing both the DOE and the UFT, I was reduced to defending myself as a pro se Respondent after the union retaliated by withdrawing its legal representation and refused to pay for a replacement attorney. I naively thought the raison d'etre of a union was to protect its members. Thrown to the wolves, I had little chance to have a fair trial : " 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, 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, 4/ 24/07
My case required no balancing act : both sides' converging interests were easily satisfied by the arbitrator, Jay Siegel. He has a bright future in the DOE-driven panel of arbitrators. Teachers4action has documented their collusion with the DOE, with some of them working , or have worked with, the DOE/ NYC, in a blatant conflict of interests. When this teacher demanded that Siegel recuse himself, he refused in an apparent violation of the AAA's rules. It is frightening that Joel Klein, a former federal prosecutor, chancellor by a dubious special waiver, who seems to fancy himself America's great white hope in education -- media sycophants had been entertaining the illusion that Obama would pick him for Secretary of Education until reality sunk in -- , would resort to fascistic methods, destroying innocent lives and careers through a proceeding
masquerading as justice. Joel Klein chose to subvert the 3020-a Education Law proceeding to achieve his right-wing political agenda over his duty to uphold the law on all occasions. He should know that disgraceful end always awaits institutional abuse notwithstanding the perpetrators' higher social rank.
We recall
his kindred spirit, former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales, resigning over his role in the 2006 firings of nine U.S. attorneys for political reason. Resignation is not enough. The "patriot" a la Republican and other fascists like Karl Rove must be brought to justice for this infamy ; you cannot trample on people's civil rights and undermine the democratic process in all impunity. Likewise, Joel Klein, a product of the same kind of Department of Justice, must be held accountable for violating teachers' rights. We won't bow to intimidation, harassment or terminations. We won't be silenced either. In the words of the poet,
Like men we'll face the murderous, cowardly pack,
Pressed to the wall, dying, but fighting back!
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Unlike most of Mr. Klein's victims racked with fear and misplaced guilt, who hide their rubber room status from friends, spouses and relatives, because of the stigma, I am determined to broadcast my case : from the trumped-up charges, to the reports concocted by the OSI and SCI to the transcripts of the high-tech lynching -- masquerading as fair trial -- I went through . I want people to know how a federal former prosecutor is dehumanizing teachers to achieve his political agenda and mayor Bloomberg's.
"And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?" Matthew 16:26 |
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TRANSCRIPTS
Note: the transcripts are replete with typos and
distorted statements
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LOGICAL NEXT STEP AFTER THE APPEAL, WHATEVER THE OUTCOME :
Boubakar Fofana
v
Klein/ DOE, Richard Marin/ SCI,
Michael Wiltshire, Principal
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HIGH-TECH LYNCHING OF
A FIRST-RATE TEACHER,
OLGA BATYREVA, MATH TEACHER,
MURRY BERGTRAUM HIGH SCHOOL (MBHS)
Olga Batyreva's capital sins : being over 60 and for reporting her supervisors' grades tampering to the SCI -- a subsequent investigation corroborated her assertions. No action was taken. Well, not quite, a different kind of action was taken : despite the fact that her students' success rate in school exams ( 55%) exceeds the school's average (45%), she was banished to the rubber room for incompetence -- barely two days after she alerted Joel Klein, Esq., the very person who has the least incentive to act, to put it mildly. Thus, Olga met the same fate as David Pakter's and other whistleblowers' who stood up for the children's welfare. The phony basis for this infamy ? An avalanche of reports of U-rated lesson observations by single-digit IQ supervisors.
The DOE is now seeking her termination in its kangaroo court's trial under NYC's discriminatory version of Section 3020-a of NY Education Law. The fact that Olga is also a Teachers4action's member, an organization that launched a federal lawsuit against the DOE/UFT, can only be classified as damning circumstances from a corrupt arbitrator's perspective. Before reading OLGA'S STORY , I suggest that you make sure you are not far from the bathroom : you might not be able to overcome an urge to vomit.
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TEACHERS TAKE LEGAL ACTION OVER THE VIOLATION
OF THEIR CONSTITUTIONAL RIGHTS
Teachers4Action
vs
Bloomberg, Klein, DOE, Weingarten, UFT
After firing Edward Fagan, our attorney, and having him
disbarred for unethical behavior,
we are regrouping,
determined
more than ever, seasoned by the first battle -- a rehearsal of sort .
We will
soon resume
the David-v-Goliath fight with a new lawyer :
we will win because evil ultimately never prevails.
QUOTATION OF THE YEAR
“Why is the Union on the other side of the table from the Union Members?” Federal
Judge Andrew Peck
Your Honor, in a few words you summed up this case. The Trinity mystery is less opaque to us in comparison : lavishly living off workers' dues and yet failing to protect their rights -- grossly violated over the years -- ,
the UFT's nomenclatura is no different from the Soviet's. A corrupt, repressive system that had no future.
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RESTRAINING ORDER
A Supreme Court judge put an end to Betsy Combier's 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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What's Happening To The New Blood ?
Fiction : the DOE's apprentice sorcerers present teaching fellows -- mostly professionals from various industries, or newly graduates (with social conscience) from top schools -- as wonderful substitute for the incompetent-burned-out-costly-tenured teachers clogging the system : they will increase teaching quality and reinvigorate the school system.
Reality :
Non-tenured, cheap labor, they are dismissable at-will : "
The UFT has filed a grievance on behalf of approximately 130 teaching fellows who face termination on Dec. 5 because they have no full-time teaching assignments.
" NY Teacher, 11/06/08. We are talking about people recruited in September despite of hundreds of experienced teachers reduced to ATR work.
Many teaching fellows, disgusted with the rampant, systemic student discipline problems, disgusted with unsupportive, incompetent principals, leave on their own within months, unless suspicious charges abridged their new careers.
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Breaking the Silence: Overcoming the Problem of Principal Mistreatment of Teachers
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BREACH OF FIDUCIARY DUTY :
THE NYSUT DENIES TEACHERS4ACTION'S MEMBERS LEGAL REPRESENTATION
AT THEIR 3020-A HEARINGS, 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, 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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-
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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 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 Shut Down 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 Shut Down in 2007
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Frequency of 3020-a Charges
1995 -2005 statewide |
Charges |
Count |
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| Incompetence |
176 |
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Improper Student Contact |
128 |
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Corporal Punishment |
59 |
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Insubordination |
47 |
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Off Campus Misconduct |
42 |
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Student Safety |
21 |
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Cheating |
21 |
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Lack of Certification |
9 |
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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
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2000 |
2001 |
Number of cases |
4126 |
4326 |
Number of "substantiated" cases |
1114 |
1514 |
Statewide, 580 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 2000,2001, 2002,2003,2004,and 2005 do not reflect this "child abuse" epidemic :
54 + 70 + 67 + 86 + 75+ 80 = 432
cases -- all categories -- were 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
1995 -2004 statewide |
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Acquitted |
Terminated |
Suspended
Without Pay |
Fined |
Reprimanded |
Total |
Sexual relation with a student
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0 |
5 |
0 |
0 |
0 |
5 |
Improper contact of sexual nature
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17 |
10 |
13 |
1 |
5 |
46 |
Attempt to establish improper
relationship with a student
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1 |
5 |
4 |
1 |
0 |
11 |
Remark of sexual nature
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10 |
3 |
14 |
5 |
1 |
33 |
Total
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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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CROSS-EXAMINING RICHARD MARIN, THE SCI DIRECTOR FOR INFORMATION SYSTEMS,THE TRUTH CAME OUT :
Here is the proof that the SCI -- DOE's militia -- broke into the server hosting this website. More specifically, Richard Marin broke into a private server and copied an entire directory, MCHS, with subdirectories and files, and presented them as evidence to frame a teacher. As part of the discovery of the administrative trial, their "evidence" came in the form of a CD containing the files AND the picture of the index of the folder MCHS. That's all Im needed to expose these bloody liars.
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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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MY ACCUSERS
1. STUDENT A CASE 04-8383
"Student A asked for a makeup test. Teacher refused. Student went to the principal. 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..."
Excerpts from the notes of OSI's investigator Robert Colon
( 3/7/2005 ),
made as he was interviewing
female student A,
a fifteen-year-old 10th grader.
Comments : "Wiltshire tried to steal his girlfriend." This shady character from New York's demimonde, stealing my girlfriend ? For a starter, he would need a hell of jogging to shed the fat that seems to choke his synapses and impair his judgement.
2. 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."
Excerpts from the notes of OSI's investigator Robert Colon ( 3/7/2005 ), made as he was interviewing
female student A,
a sixteen-year-old 10th grader.
Comments : In each case, the alleged abuse took place in a class of about 30. None other students corroborated the allegations. I love the phrase "This happened often". I cross-examined Robert Colon : some of his answers are worth reporting : stay tuned.
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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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