Metro

It’s $7M ‘fire’ in the hole

The battle to get bad teachers out of the classroom has put the state Education Department in the hole for $7.5 million, The Post has learned.

Critics say the notoriously slow and convoluted disciplinary process — which can even take years for educators convicted of crimes — has gotten slower and more expensive in recent years as union lawyers have gotten better at putting up a fight.

With a backlog of payments for arbitrators who earn as much as $5,400 for a five-hour day, state Education Commissioner David Steiner says cases are getting extended even longer because fewer arbitrators are willing to take them on.

“The costs are out of control,” Steiner told state lawmakers last week while seeking an extra $2.2 million to cover 2012 disciplinary hearings.

That’s on top of $5.3 million the state already owes disgruntled arbitrators.

Former MLK HS teacher Angela de Souza and lawyers for the state teachers union fought tooth and nail to dismiss her charges of incompetence — which came after she showed movies in class and said she didn’t know she was supposed to create a lesson plan.

De Souza managed to stretch out the disciplinary process for nearly three years — during which taxpayers shelled out an estimated $240,000 for her salary, $35,000 for an arbitrator, and more than $100,000 for substitute teachers.

De Souza, who is still working as an unassigned teacher declined comment.

One ex-teacher, Abraham Sorscher, fought the city for two years to hold on to his gig at Murry Bergtraum HS, even after he’d pleaded guilty to defrauding the federal school-lunch program.

Although he was finally terminated in March, his salary alone for those two years cost $190,000.

Sorscher slammed the door on a reporter’s foot and declined comment.

“Clearly, this is not good for our students, and, furthermore, it wastes taxpayer dollars during these tough fiscal times,” said Sarah Scrogin, principal of East Bronx Academy for the Future, who unsuccessfully tried to boot a teacher who was convicted of driving while high on marijuana.

Additional reporting by Reuven Fenton, Rebecca Rosenberg and Rich Calder

yoav.gonen@nypost.com