[nfbmi-talk] michigan should be smart enough to do this

[joe harcz Comcast]

DCPS agrees to reinstate, pay $450k to fired blind teachers | Lisa Gartner | DC | Washington Examiner

By:

Lisa Gartner

06/06/11 8:05 PM

Examiner Staff Writer

@Lisa_Examiner

D.C. Public Schools has agreed to reinstate and pay more than $450,000 in back wages to two blind teachers fired in 2008.

 

Fred Kamara and Denise Hamilton, who taught visually impaired children, have said they will accept positions within the school system, but have not yet

been placed or given the three years' salary owed them.

 

Fred Lewis, a spokesman for Acting Chancellor Kaya Henderson, confirmed that DCPS agreed to reinstate and offer back wages to Kamara before an arbitrator

could make a ruling between the school system and The Washington Teachers' Union.

 

And DCPS will not appeal an arbitrator's ruling that Hamilton was improperly fired in a "sad and troubling case" and deserving of her $211,174 in lost salary.

 

DCPS had given Hamilton a working plan to obtain her special-education certification while teaching at Sharpe Health Learning Center, but fired her just

as the certificate was arriving in the mail.

 

"While it is clear that the teacher in question had failed to provide the proof of certification required for continued employment as a teacher in DCPS

until after she was terminated, the fact is that she is now certified and has the required credentials to perform her duties as a teacher," Lewis said

in an email. "In light of that fact, continued litigation over this matter would only serve to detract resources from the mission of serving children."

 

DCPS would not confirm whether the decisions to settle and to not appeal were an admission of wrongdoing: "We accept the [arbitrator's] decision," Lewis

said.

 

Kamara, who taught at Wilson Senior High School, said he was also fired over his teaching certificate -- but was never notified until he requested his 2008-2009

courseload from administrators. "I was completely shattered," said Kamara, who couldn't find a new job and lost his home. "You can imagine, being used

to providing for people, my family. All of a sudden, I couldn't afford to provide anymore."

 

He is entitled to about $250,000 in lost wages, according to the teachers' union.

 

Hamilton said she is "very happy" that DCPS won't appeal her reinstatement, and is looking to help visually impaired children this summer while awaiting

her placement.

 

"I actually have been praying about that," she said. "I knew God was going to work things out according to his will. I was very excited."

 

lgartner at washingtonexaminer.com

http://washingtonexaminer.com/local/dc/2011/06/dcps-agrees-reinstate-pay-450k-fired-blind-teachers