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.
"And what do you benefit if you gain the whole world but lose your own soul?" Matthew 16:26
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During this caricature of justice , I did get my cathartic moment : for more than four hours I cross-examined a parvenu-sexual predator-academic cheat, my tormentor,
Michael Wiltshire, Principal of Medgar Evers Preparatory School : from page 592 (May 7 Transcripts) to page 945 (May 15 Transcripts). I asked the scumbag if he considered the information I posted here on him as libel and defamation. The DOE's lawyer, trained to smell ambushes, hollered : OBJECTION. Indeed, had he responded affirmatively, my next question would be " Why you did not suit me ?"
May 7 Hearing started with a mini drama : I read a statement asking the arbitrator, Jay Siegel , to recuse himself. Ed Fagan, our federal lawsuit lawyer, was there to support me. ( He had every right to be there : I exercised my right to have the trial open to the public -- nothing to hide.)Things became tense when he intervened right at the beginning. The arbitrator wanted to know whether he was representing me in the 3020-a proceeding as well. No ? Then, sir, you are not allowed to speak. Fagan disregarded the order, and raised the federal lawsuit issue, which is intimately linked to the hearing.
It was understood between Fagan and me to boycott the hearing after the recusal request :
THE HEARING OFFICER : So you -- so you have no -- you have
no questions of the witness; is that correct,
Mr. Fofana?
MR. FOFANA: No. No.
THE HEARING OFFICER: Okay. Ms. Adonai, then you are excused as a witness.
To my dismay, Fagan whispered to me to proceed. I looked at him, dumbfounded. If he could read my mind, he would have found something like this : "what the f. is this ? When did you change your mind ? " Upset, I swallowed and started pillorying A.P. Adonai (a lofty name for a hopeless liar : Adonai is a substitute for God's real name in Judaism -- too sacred to be pronounced.)
I found it surreal when two weeks later Fagan demanded that all Teacher4action's members boycott their hearings in compliance with his new legal strategy ! I simply ignored it. He sent me an email, threatening to withdraw his legal representation unless I complied. That was a declaration of war. I was not intimidated : he would have to file a request with the court, the last thing to do : a) the precedent did not seem to suit the judge ; 2) most importantly, he gave me a rope to hang him with. I did not respond to his message privately as he expected in his divide-and-conquer tactics. My blistering response, cc-ed to all plaintiffs -- I asked them not to drop out of their hearings and explained why -- caught him off-guard. To try to silence me, the shyster invoked the confidentiality agreement we signed -- he interpreted it to include plaintiffs communicating among themselves! I rejected that, of course, and asked him not to meddle in Teacher4action's organizational issues. Surprisingly, many co-plaintiffs opened up and supported me... privately lest Fagan retaliate against them ! I will post the full account of what happened when the time is ripe, with the supporting documentation.
In a meeting with the plaintiffs, Fagan said, with a grin, "You know I am an asshole." prompting a burst of laughter . I did not laugh because the statement was profundly accurate.
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