Relates to the disciplinary hearings and procedures for teachers in the city district of the city of New York

Summary of specific provisions

Section 1. Amends the Education Law, Section 3020-a3,(b)(i)(1). Filing of charges.

Section 2. Amends the Education Law by adding a new section 3020-b. Provides that employees may be suspended pending a hearing and that such suspension shall be without pay. Requires the Commissioner of Education to refer all disciplinary hearings to the New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings and that such cases shall be conducted by a single administrative law judge from such Office. Requires the final hearing to be completed no later than thirty days after the pre-hearing conference, unless extraordinary circumstances can be determined by the administrative law judge. Requires written decisions to be issued by the administrative law judge within twenty-four hours of the last day of the final hearing. Requires that upon acquittal, an employee be restored to his or her position with full pay for any period of suspension without pay and the charges be expunged from the employment record.

Sections 3, 4, 5, 6, 7 and 8 make technical amendments to various section of the Education Law to comply with the new section 3020-b.

Section 9. Requires the Chancellor of the city district of the City of New York to refer all existing disciplinary hearings to the New York City Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings upon the effective date of this act.

Section 10. Effective Date

Existing law

None.

Justification

Recent news reports have highlighted the backlog of cases involving alleged cases of teacher incompetence and misconduct in the New York City Public School system. These teachers have been sent to what is officially designated as the Temporary Reassignment Center, more commonly referred to as "Rubber Rooms", where they continue to receive full salary but perform no teaching or other duties. According to Chancellor Joel Klein, New York City spent approximately $30 million on the salaries of teachers who sat in reassignment centers. One teacher, according to a recent report, continues to collect his $94,154 annual salary but has not set foot in a classroom in the last seven years. Another teacher who was banned from the classroom in

2001 is an attorney who has used his time in the rubber room to work at his legal practice, purportedly drawing down his teacher's salary of $100,000. These teachers are among the 660 who are on the city payroll awaiting resolution of their cases. New York City can no longer afford to waste millions of taxpayer dollars every year for teachers accused of incompetence and misconduct while they are waiting for their cases to be heard.

This bill would go a long way to remedy the current situation. It would: remove teachers from the payroll while their cases are being adjudicated; teachers whose cases are dismissed would receive back pay and their cases expunged from their employment record; mandate that hearings take place within thirty days; require final decisions to be issued in writing within twenty-four hours; requires all disciplinary hearings to be heard by the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings (OATH); and requires the New York City Schools Chancellor to immediately refer all existing disciplinary cases to the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings.

Prior legislative history

2009-2010 S.6953 - Referred to Education/A.10442 - Referred to Education

Fiscal implications

None to State.

Effective date

Immediately, with provisions.