December 23, 2015

Tenured teacher dismissed after being found incompetent and ineffective following a disciplinary hearing held pursuant to Education Law §3020-a



Tenured teacher dismissed after being found incompetent and ineffective following a disciplinary hearing held pursuant to Education Law §3020-a
Reed v Department of Educ. of the City of N.Y., 2015 NY Slip Op 09193, Appellate Division, First Department

Supreme Court, New York County dismissed Lisa Reed's the petition seeking to vacate and, or, modify the opinion and award that resulted in the termination of Reed’s employment as a tenured teacher with the New York City Department of Education. The Department had served charges and specification pursuant to Education Law §3020-a on Reed alleging that she was “incompetent and ineffective during three school years.”

Reed appealed the Supreme Court’s ruling but the Appellate Division affirmed the lower court decision, noting that the charges filed against Reed were supported by adequate evidence showing that she had failed to plan and execute lessons, as observed on multiple enumerated dates.

The Appellate Division also said that ‘The evidence shows that [Reed] continually refused to accept responsibility for her failure to deliver effective instruction. In particular, she failed to implement the school administration's professional development recommendations with regard to lesson planning preparation and execution, proper pacing of lessons, ensuring students stay on task, and assessing students' progress, among other things.”

As to the penalty imposed on Reed by the Department, termination, the court said that dismissing Reed from her position “does not shock [its] sense of fairness.”

The decision is posted on the Internet at:

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