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THIS, meaning hyperunionized schools & tenure, is a big part of why our education system sucks.
New Jersey Star Ledger....
New Jersey Star Ledger....
Flunking out bad teachers
There are many teachers who inspire students. And then there’s Curtis Robinson, the sort of teacher who inspires tenure reformers.
During his 18 years teaching disabled students in Paterson, Robinson hurled classroom chairs, punched a boy in the chest for failing to do his homework and shoved another kid against a blackboard until he cried, staff and students said.
Robinson still insists he had a gift with children. But he admits that using cocaine after school early in his career sometimes made him “preoccupied.â€
“Immediately after work, I’d have a line or two,†he told The Record in August. “I been teaching so long, you can function with your eyes closed.â€
That’s probably true, thanks to the extensive job protections for teachers in New Jersey. Because Robinson was tenured, it took more than four years of legal proceedings to fire him, costing the state more than $100,000 in legal costs.
Throughout the case, the district had to hire a substitute for at least $120,000 and pay Robinson $283,864 in wages — even after the state Division of Youth and Family Services concluded he’d physically abused children.
“We could have hired 10 teachers for the cost of prosecuting that case,†said James Smith, who investigated Robinson for the district.
At least Robinson was ultimately canned and lost his pension. In the Orange school district, another tenured teacher who got into physical fights with staff and students, cursed at parents and publicly used the “N†word to describe a colleague was never fired — just suspended for 30 days without pay.
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There are many teachers who inspire students. And then there’s Curtis Robinson, the sort of teacher who inspires tenure reformers.
During his 18 years teaching disabled students in Paterson, Robinson hurled classroom chairs, punched a boy in the chest for failing to do his homework and shoved another kid against a blackboard until he cried, staff and students said.
Robinson still insists he had a gift with children. But he admits that using cocaine after school early in his career sometimes made him “preoccupied.â€
“Immediately after work, I’d have a line or two,†he told The Record in August. “I been teaching so long, you can function with your eyes closed.â€
That’s probably true, thanks to the extensive job protections for teachers in New Jersey. Because Robinson was tenured, it took more than four years of legal proceedings to fire him, costing the state more than $100,000 in legal costs.
Throughout the case, the district had to hire a substitute for at least $120,000 and pay Robinson $283,864 in wages — even after the state Division of Youth and Family Services concluded he’d physically abused children.
“We could have hired 10 teachers for the cost of prosecuting that case,†said James Smith, who investigated Robinson for the district.
At least Robinson was ultimately canned and lost his pension. In the Orange school district, another tenured teacher who got into physical fights with staff and students, cursed at parents and publicly used the “N†word to describe a colleague was never fired — just suspended for 30 days without pay.
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