Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Tuesday that he wants to introduce a bill that will give the state final authority to decide on teachers accused of sexual misconduct.
Under the current state law, all misconduct cases involving teachers is decided by a third party arbitrator selected by the teachers' union or school district. However, Bloomberg wants to change this law and grant the school chancellor or any school superintendent in the state of New York the power to fire or penalize a teacher accused of sexual misconduct.
According to Bloomberg, the current state law allows for proclivity towards protecting the teacher's job rather than the student. In a news conference at Gracie Mansion he told the New York Times "There is simply no reason that teachers accused of sexual misconduct should have greater job security than other city employees."
President of United Federations of Teachers, Michael Mulgrew, points out that in many instances teachers are falsely accused by students, co-workers or parents and having a third party arbitrator is the best option to ensure justice to both sides.The bill comes as a response to a number of reported incidents of sexual misconduct involving teachers in the past month. However, the probability of Bloomberg's bill being passes is highly unlikely since the State Assembly is controlled by democrats who are particularly sensitive to unions.
