Paterson school superintendent opens inquiry into substitute teachers going without pay
By Jayed Rahman
Published: October 19, 2016
The city’s school district superintendent has opened an inquiry to figure out what caused the district’s substitute teachers to go unpaid since September. Half-dozen substitute teachers have said they have either received one pay check since the school year began or none at all.
“We are aware of this issue and apologize to those who were impacted,” said Terry Corallo, spokeswoman for the Paterson Public Schools. She said all the district’s substitute have received a paycheck yesterday.
The district has almost 1,000 substitute teachers, according to payroll data.
Corallo said state-appointed district superintendent Donnie Evans has initiated an inquiry understand what caused this problem.
“We technically eliminated the sub office when we did the cuts,” said school board president Christopher Irving. He suggested the issue that resulted in the substitute teachers going without pay very likely was a result of the cuts.
“We’re going to have to have a conversation about it tonight,” said Irving. He said his biggest concern is that a large number of substitute teachers are city residents. “These are people who live here, who pay taxes here, who spend their money here. It’s a matter of fairness. If someone works they deserve to be paid and paid on time.”
“This is an additional effect of the illegal underfunding,” said Corey Teague, former school board member, who brought the issue to the fore. He said many of the substitute teachers rely on their paycheck to run their households.
Substitute teachers do not belong to any labor unions. The district hires substitute teachers on per diem basis for $110 a day.
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