Paying teachers not to teach is a long-standing union required tradition

Unlike many people, I was not shocked to learn that the LA Unified School District is paying teachers not to teach, although the $10 million price tag strikes me as just a tad unreasonable.  In the early 1970s, one of my teachers was a scary guy (not to mention a bad teacher).  Because of his union ensured tenure, though, the school repeated overlooked his little slip-ups:  sexually suggestive remarks to girls, antisemitic remarks to Jews, hostile remarks to just about everyone.  The school couldn’t overlook it, though, when he tried to attack a student, and then threw a movie projector out a (closed) window.

Some might call that last one a firing offense — but it wasn’t.  Instead, he was put on fully paid leave.  I left the school about 1.5 years after his leave began and he was still getting paid to stay home.  Nice non-work if you can get it.