NJ Education Report

1) New Jersey Administrative Law Judge Jeff Masin has ruled that even though a special education teacher  mocked one of his students, called him a “‘tard,” and told him that he will “kick your ass from here to kingdom come,” that’s not enough to revoke tenure. According to the Star-Ledger, the Bankbridge Regional  Board of Ed “voted to certify tenure charges against [Steven] Roth in December, and in March he appeared before Masin. The charges included unbecoming conduct, neglect of duty and verbal abuse in violation of the Harassment, Intimidation and Bullying Policy of the board.”  Judge Masin ruled that Roth is “not a person who cannot be expected to provide special education students with much important instruction and guidance in the future while learning from his mistakes and avoiding such improper conduct.”The Board released the following statement:

The board and the superintendent believe that the only appropriate penalty for the shocking conduct perpetrated by Mr. Roth in this incident is termination,” the statement reads. “The district is committed to the dignity and protection of its students. As such, we are in the process of filing exceptions to the judge’s decision with Chris Cerf, Acting Commissioner of Education, seeking the termination of Mr. Roth.

2) The New York Times reports today on the status of New York City’s rubber room, which houses 830 teachers who don’t have jobs but are still salaried because they have tenure and cost the city millions of dollars per year:

Nearly a quarter of the teachers in the pool have been without regular teaching assignments for at least two years and 44 percent have never submitted a job application online or attended a city recruitment event. The teachers’ union has claimed that the stigma of being in the pool has prevented good teachers from being offered permanent assignments, but city officials and some principals have said that many of the teachers are mediocre.

They are used as substitutes throughout the system wherever they are needed.

On Thursday, Mr. Walcott said the $100 million or so the city spends on these teachers and other school employees’ salaries amounted to “wasting it on teachers who probably chose the wrong profession.”