NEW YORK – The sister of United Federation of Teachers President Michael Mulgrew is enjoying a lucrative and fast-rising career in New York City’s Department of Education, despite spending the last 11 years on maternity leave.

According to The New York Post, Kathleen Mulgrew-Daretany worked for the city as a high school English teacher for less than five years before going on maternity leave in 2001.

Mulgrew-Daretany used the city’s generous maternity and child care leave policies – which renewed themselves after the birth of her second child – to preserve her unpaid spot on the city’s teacher roster until 2012.

MORE NEWS: Know These Before Moving From Cyprus To The UK

During those 11 years, Mulgrew-Daretany worked as Chief Operating Officer for Brienza’s Academic Advantage, a Brooklyn-based company that did nearly $40 million worth of business with the city for teacher training seminars and student tutoring, the Post reports.

The Post reports that city employees are prohibited “from holding second jobs with companies that do business with the city unless they get approval from their agency head and a waiver from the Conflict of Interest Board.”

Even though she was on unpaid leave, Mulgrew-Darentany clearly should have sought the required permission before diving into her second career.

What’s more troubling is how Mulgrew-Daretany recently got rehired by the city’s Department of Education as a “program officer” after an 11-year absence. The $75,000-a-year position is designed to help students prepare for college and careers. This woman has not been teaching students for more than a decade.

The paper notes that Mulgrew-Daretany hung up on a Post reporter who recently tried to pose some questions to her about her evolving career.

Taxpayers are left to wonder if Mulgrew-Daretany was given special treatment because her brother is the head of New York City’s powerful teachers union.

MORE NEWS: How to prepare for face-to-face classes

Betsy Combier, a paralegal and blogger, doesn’t rule it out.

“At the DOE, it’s not what you know, but who you know,” Combier told the Post.

That certainly sheds a little more light on why New York City’s school system has produced such underwhelming results for students.