Complaints Against School Workers Rise
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Complaints of criminal behavior and other misconduct by teachers and public school personnel increased by 38% last year to the highest level in more than a decade, and the number of substantiated criminal cases rose 68% versus 2005, according to a report by the school system’s Special Commissioner of Investigation.
There were 2,552 complains filed in 2006, and investigators referred to prosecutors 101 cases of criminal activity — including rapes and thefts — up from 60 referrals in 2005. Investigators made six arrests in 2006, the same as in 2005. Overall, the number of complaints substantiated by investigators increased only slightly last year, to 259 from 251 in 2005, but rose markedly from the 67 substantiated cases in 1992, the year after the office was created.
The special commissioner, Richard Condon, attributed the rise in complaints to increased awareness among the public and school personnel of the existence of the agency, which was created as an independent check on the Department of Education.
“I think people are more attuned to it,” he said, adding that many of the cases investigated last year were more serious than in previous years.
Investigators substantiated four cases involving rape, down from five in 2005. Cases of other sexual misconduct also dropped slightly, to 86 from 92, although the number of sexual complaints rose significantly and represented 23% of all complaints. Of 576 sexual complaints received last year, 197 have been investigated.
The United Federation of Teachers president, Randi Weingarten, who supports a City Council bill that would increase protections for teachers who report crimes by coworkers, said she wasn’t surprised at the rise in complaints.
“The UFT … has been encouraging teachers to report things to Condon’s office,” she said in a statement, but added, “Without an expanded whistleblower law, people are afraid to report improprieties to their principal or higherups at the DOE out of fear of retaliation.”
A Department of Education spokeswoman, Dina Paul Parks, said in a statement: “We commend the Special Commissioner for his continued diligence.”
