GothamSchools — daily independent reporting on NYC public schools

In the hustle to clear the rubber rooms by the end of the year, the city is mainly settling with teachers charged with infractions — not firing them.

Numbers released by the teachers union today show that in the last six months, the city has cleared nearly half the cases of teachers awaiting trial. The number of teachers charged with misconduct or incompetence has gone from nearly 300 to about 170 since April, when the city and union announced a deal to expedite hearings. (The city, which keeps separate records, reported slightly different numbers.) Union officials said today that most of these cases have been settled by having teachers retire, resign, or pay fines.

One reason the number of settlements is on the rise is that the city has a newfound willingness to settle cases rather than take them through lengthy and costly hearings. Ridding schools of inept teachers has been a priority for the city’s Department of Education, but progress has been slow and very few teachers have been successfully fired for incompetence. (more…)