How Much Does It Cost The DOE To File 3020-a Charges Against Tenured Teachers? How About $250,000!

There are between 700 and 1,000 teachers that have been removed from the classrooms and most of them will be charged under State Education Law 3020-a. Because tenured teachers have due process rights the DOE cannot just fire a teacher but must convince an arbitrator that the teacher's alleged wrongdoings warrant termination. Unfortunately, for Tweed they must show real proof and compelling evidence before an arbitrator is convinced that termination is a proper penalty. However, more unlikely, is that the arbitrator finds the charged teacher totally innocent. Therefore, to appease the DOE, the arbitrator will usually find teacher fault that is sufficient to impose a fine or suspension on the teacher.

The real question is how much does the average 3020-a process cost? Based upon some numbers floated around by both the DOE and UFT it appears to average $250,000 for a teacher to complete a 3020-a hearing. This number can be lower or higher depending on how many specifications (charges) Tweed files against a teacher. For example some teacher incompetence cases can take an entire school year or more just to go through the specifications against the teacher. While I cannot confirm the $250,000 value, it does appear reasonable when you work through the numbers. For example lets assume the following is true.

• Teacher salary $75,000/yr and averages two years out of the classroom.
• Arbitrator's salary $1,700/Dy and averages 20 days per hearing.
• NYSUT attorney's salary of $80,000/'yr and averages 4 months
  
• DOE's lawyer salary $75,000/yr and averages 4 months
  
• Transportation (usually a limo service) & food for DOE witnesses. about $4,000

When added together it comes out to approximately $250,000 from start to finish. This value does not include the cost of replacement teachers for the teachers removed from the classroom and the cost of subpoenas and visits to the school by the DOE. Furthermore, printing and photocopying costs of evidence, including transcripts are ignored. Finally, this does not include the use of DOE paid investigators which costs thousands of dollars in manpower. If these other items are included, the figure could easily reach $300,000 or higher.

In the ongoing severe budget crises the DOE can save much money and bring fairness to the system by hiring an independent mediator to evaluate whether a teacher should be removed from the classroom rather than the existing DOE kangaroo court/investigative process that almost always takes the Principal's side and files 3020-a charges against the hapless teacher and, of course, wastes precious education funds just to file 3020-a charges that usually does not end up in the teacher's termination.