By Victor Skinner
EAGnews.org

ALBANY, N.Y. – Long overdue legislation designed to more quickly remove sexually inappropriate teachers from New York’s public school classrooms likely won’t become law this session, the New York Daily News reports.

Instead, Empire State lawmakers are spending the final week of their legislative session giving in to union demands to limit public access to teacher evaluations.

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“Lawmakers in both houses admit they would prefer to avoid another battle with the unions in an election year,” according to New York Daily News.

New York City’s United Federation of Teachers and the statewide New York State United Teachers union would prefer to keep teacher evaluations from the public to minimize accountability and embarrassment for their members. They’ve waged legal wars to keep the records in the dark. And apparently they’ve convinced state lawmakers to address their self-serving concerns.

Meanwhile, NYC Mayor Michael Bloomberg and city school chancellor Dennis Walcott have pressed state lawmakers to shift final authority to terminate employees with a history of sexual contact with students from union-friendly arbitrators to education officials. They blame UFT union bosses for delaying the change.

“The UFT’s decision to defend a broken system that allows adults to prey on children tells New Yorkers all they need to know about their priorities: this is an organization that will put adult job security over children’s safety every time,” Bloomberg spokesman Mark Botnick told the Daily News.

Union officials argue that teacher contracts require the immediate termination of members convicted of sexual misconduct with children. The difference is that they insist on waiting for the lengthy legal process to take its course. And the union routinely defends sexually predatory teachers who haven’t yet been charged with a crime.

The New York Daily News summed up the situation: “One example (chancellor) Walcott has cited is the case involving veteran teacher Jonathan Polayes, who the city sought to fire twice for inappropriate sexual conduct only to have an arbitrator suspend him without pay both times.  A third case is pending,” the Daily News reports.

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The way we see it, if a teacher has been accused twice of inappropriate sexual conduct, school officials should have the power to apply their common sense and move that person along. Waiting for prosecutors to file charges is just inviting more trouble.

Shame on the unions for defending members who prey on kids.  And shame on state lawmakers who are afraid to go toe-to-toe with the unions over this very critical issue.