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Nonprofit Watchdog to Mayor: Fix the $136 Million Absent Teacher Reserve

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No assignments? Such a school would sound like a dream to many young pupils, but to taxpayers, unassigned teachers come with a heavy price anchored in reality.

 

Government watchdog Citizens Budget Commission published a report on Thursday arguing that the city’s Absent Teacher Reserve needs an overhaul from Mayor Bill de Blasio after finding this system of 1,202 reserve teachers costs taxpayers $136 million annually. For years, the mayor made pledges to try addressing this issue that the nonprofit watchdog’s report details.

 

Author of the report, Ana Champeny, wrote “the city should use this round of negotiations to constrain, or preferably eliminate, the [Absent Teacher Reserve].” Her writing went on to say that this current system “provides no incentive for unmotivated or unsuitable teachers to secure new permanent placements.”

 

The Absent Teacher Reserve pools together teachers considered “excessed” from permanent school positions because of school closings, enrollment declines, budget cuts, or other reasons that do not provide direct cause for terminating employment under the current contract.3 These teachers may be assigned to work as substitute teachers or to perform administrative duties.

 

According to Citizens Budget Commission, “The [Absent Teacher Reserve] was created in 2005 during Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s administration in order to give principals greater control over hiring decisions.  Previously, teacher contracts included provisions under which excessed teachers were placed in other schools. Senior teachers were able to select the school to transfer into, often displacing more junior teachers and infringing upon a principal’s discretion over staffing. These seniority protections were eliminated in the 2003-2007 contract, with the guarantee that excessed teachers would continue to receive full pay while looking for a new position.”

 

The size of the program can fluctuate but tends to decrease as the school years goes on and reserve teachers slowly fill permanent positions. A quarter of the teachers in the system in 2017 have been there for at least five years though instead of finding permanent work. Some evidence, the nonprofit watchdog argues, suggests that “some [Absent Teacher Reserve] teachers do not actively seek job opportunities, have some unsatisfactory observations in their files, or both.6

 

More teachers in the system means more people need to be paid, but the price per educator is also a rising problem. These costs can rise because the teachers stuck in this system tend to be more senior and therefore are privy to contractual salary increases. “On average, [these] teachers have 18 years of service and a salary of $98,126, compared to 10.2 years and 84,108 salary for NYC teachers overall,10” Citizens Budget Commission said.

In November 2018 the United Federation of Teachers contract will expire and another contract with additional raises will be negotiated. “By offering full pay, raises, step increases, and longevity increases, the [Absent Teacher Reserve] provides no incentive for unmotivated or unsuitable teachers to secure new permanent placements,” Champeny argues, adding “the [Absent Teacher Reserve] should be a temporary stop, not an unlimited job guarantee.

 

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