City has allowed 125 hiring freeze exceptions

After Anna reported about the number of excessed teachers on the first day of school last week, CityTeacher said in a comment that his principal had hired two new teachers apparently in violation of the hiring freeze:

My Queens school hired 2 teachers–both retired–and one is on F-status (not sure about the other) to work 2 programs. The principal had to get special permission to do this. Yet one ATR could have filled these positions. So I wonder how many other principals were given waivers to hire outside the system?

We don’t know yet how many principals have gotten waivers to hire from outside the system. But in case you missed it in my last post, the Department of Education has permitted principals to hire 125 teachers who didn’t work in a city school last year, according to spokeswoman Ann Forte. “On a case-by-case basis we have been granting exceptions to principals who have demonstrated that they haven’t been able to fill a vacancy with an excessed teacher,” Forte said.