Perhaps the most compelling evidence in support of teacher tenure reform made headlines this week in the New York Post.
His name is Alan Rosenfeld.
Queens, NY school officials exiled Rosenfeld, a former typing teacher, in 2001 because of repeated allegations that he made lewd comments to junior high girls. The Department of Education can’t fire him because “we have to abide by the union contract,” DOE spokeswoman Ann Forte told the Post.
So he’s spent nearly a decade managing a multi-million dollar real estate empire and personal law practice from a “reassessment center” for misbehaving New York City teachers, also known as a “rubber room.”
He collects a $100,049 salary, full health benefits, and promise of a hefty pension from the district while managing his business interests by cell phone from the rubber room. He will also be paid for 435 unused sick days he’s collected when he retires, the Post reported.
It’s inconceivable to us that anyone, including his union, the American Federation of Teachers, would defend such behavior, let alone require the city’s hard-working taxpayers to foot the bill to keep Rosenfeld employed.
In New York City, the DOE pays out $40 million a year to 757 rubber roomed educators it would rather fire, according to Post reports. Meanwhile, the city is considering cutting 2,500 teachers to make up for a $4 billion budget gap, and the teachers union is requesting a 4 percent raise. That raise would also apply to exiled teachers.
Some may argue that NYC’s rubber rooms, and Rosenfeld are extreme examples of the problems inherent in the tenure system. They probably are.
But there are thousands of bad teachers across the country who are protected by absurd tenure laws. Districts that successfully fire these teachers are forced to pay six figures, mostly in legal fees. They simply can’t afford it, and without the luxury of rubber rooms, these bad apples remain in the classroom.
Something must be done.
We are sure the vast majority of taxpayers would rather revise the obviously flawed and outdated tenure system, then see another penny of public money go to the likes of Rosenfeld.