Los Angeles School District Pays Teachers Not to Teach. In an excellent investigative piece published May 6, the Los Angeles Times reported that the Los Angeles Unified School District is paying approximately 160 teachers and other school staff not to teach, giving them their full pay while allegations of misconduct – including alleged sexual contact with students, harassment, theft and drug possession – are resolved. "All told, they collect about $10 million in salaries per year – even as the district is contemplating widespread layoffs of teachers because of a financial shortfall," the Times reported.
The school district refers to these employees as being "housed," and typically places them in district offices where they are required to show up during regular school hours, but are not given any responsibilities. They have the same schedules as teachers, with 30-minute lunch breaks and school holidays off, but perform no work.
This situation was created by an agreement between the district and the teachers' union. Under the agreement, the "housed" teachers cannot be assigned tasks such as making photocopies, stuffing envelopes or mowing a school's baseball field.
One of the teachers interviewed by the Times complained that he has been "housed" for more than two months, but has not been informed why he was removed from his ninth-grade teaching duties.
In a case highlighted by the paper, teacher Matthew Kim has been "housed" with pay and benefits for seven years. The Times noted that the 41-year-old, who suffers from cerebral palsy, "has been accused of inappropriate behavior with two aides and six students, including groping them with his left arm, the one limb over which he has limited control." As suits, countersuits and appeals have been winding through the district's bureaucracy and the courts, the district has spent more than $2 million in salary and legal costs in this case alone. Two weeks ago, the school district decided that Mr. Kim would be allowed to stay home – rather than report to a district office – and still will be paid. (Source: Los Angeles Times, May 6.)
Cal-Taxletter, May 8, 2009
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