The New York City principal and his wife accused of masterminding the bilingual teacher scandal exposed by the New York Post have raked in more than $500,000 in pay over the past two years, but the foreign educators they hired are prohibited from seeing their families if they wish. to protect their jobs.
Amid a federal investigation into Bronx Principal Emmanuel Polanco and his wife, teacher Sterling, about 20 teachers in the Dominican Republic are keeping their high-paying Department of Education jobs and enrollment in city-funded master's programs. Banned from traveling outside the United States. Baez and a group of Dominican-American managers allegedly exploited the newcomers.
The Department of Homeland Security is offering teachers who lost their original visas in the chaos “continue to exist” This status allows victims of human trafficking to remain in the United States as potential witnesses to a crime. Under the rules, students who travel abroad cannot return home until an investigation is conducted, teachers told the Post this week.
“Last I heard, it was still under investigation,” one person said. “Sometimes I wonder when this situation will end, because it has already been two years and we are still waiting.”
“I don't know what's going on.'' Another Dominican teacher was warned that she could lose her job and protected status if she went to the DR when her mother underwent surgery for cancer. said.
“We are at a loss.”
A third teacher, who works at a high school in the Bronx, is unable to meet DR's family, but his wife and three children have come to the United States to see him twice in the past two years.
“Nobody tells us anything,” he said. “How long do I have to wait?”
All three teachers requested anonymity and said they had been warned by the superintendent not to speak to reporters. But they want their plight to be known.
Homeland Security says Mr. Polanco, principal of Middle School No. 80, forced teachers to rent expensive rooms rented by ADASA, a fraternal organization of Dominican-American administrators, and then deported him. The investigation began in November 2022 amid complaints that the company led a revamp plan that threatened to. If they hesitate.
The DOE removed Mr. Polanco from JHS 80. Polanco's wife, Sterling Baez, who was a teacher at PS 595 in the Bronx, also personally received more than $3,000 a month from three teachers who were instructed to share the Marion Street apartment owned by Mr. Polanco's late wife. was discovered and expelled. mother.
Neither has been charged with a crime. He did not respond to requests for comment.
Although Polanco and Baez have not returned to school, they remain on the city's payroll, collecting a combined $245,850 in fiscal year 2023 and $311,303 in fiscal year 2024, records show. Polanco's current salary is $185,112. Baez” for $95,365.
Polanco becomes first vice president Adasawas the pet of then Prime Minister David Banks. praised the group – dormant since the scandal broke – for “getting things done,” to borrow Mayor Adams’ mantra.
But disturbing details soon emerged.
ADSA placed 11 teachers in cramped duplexes on Baychester Street in the Bronx and charged 10 of them $1,450 a month, or $1,300 a month for each teacher for a private room with a shared kitchen and bath. The Post reported.
The total revenue of $15,800 would result in a monthly profit of $8,900 over what ADASA paid to lease the duplex.
Daniel Calcagno, ADASA's finance director and former assistant principal, collects about $4,500 a month in rent from three teachers and one spouse who live in a three-bedroom apartment on Pilgrim Avenue, and spends his afternoons in rent. There was a knock on the door at 11 o'clock.
Calcagno, He is still on the city payroll and earns $151,409 a year.
Calcagno, Both Mr. Polanco and Mr. Baez “have been reassigned to central administrative roles,” the DOE said, declining to specify their duties, if any. “Reassignment” is DOE jargon for “rubber room” and means doing little or nothing during an investigation.
Five teachers in the Dominican Republic quit their DOE jobs in frustration and returned to the DR permanently. The remaining 20 people later found housing on their own. They receive DOE salaries of $66,000 to $75,000 plus overtime pay.
They also attend City College to earn a master's degree in education, paid for by the DOE, which could lead to recognition and permanent status as labor immigrants.
A Homeland Security Investigations spokesperson declined to answer questions about the investigation, saying, “Due to law enforcement secrecy, HSI cannot confirm or deny the existence of an open investigation.”
