NY Teachers Union Relative Snags Lucrative Contract

Yoav Gonen’s story in the New York Post points out a curious privelege which seems outrageous even for a teacher-union negotiated contract:  an extended unpaid maternity leave of 11 years.  None of the parties would comment on the allegations.

 The sister of teachers-union President Michael Mulgrew was wrist-slapped Monday for operating a booming tutoring company that was awarded $40 million in work from the city while she was employed as a public-school teacher.

The overlapping gigs got Kathleen Mulgrew-Daretany a warning letter from the city Conflicts of Interest Board, after it determined that her work for Brienza’s Academic Advantage violated city conflict-of-interest rules.

While Mulgrew-Daretany was technically on an extended unpaid maternity leave from 2001 through 2012, she was still barred as a city employee from working at a firm that conducts business with the city.

Mulgrew-Daretany served as COO of the firm from 2008 to 2012, at which point she resigned from her teaching gig.

She then left Brienza’s in 2012, but the city Department of Education rehired her. She is currently an “associate education officer” with a $75,825 salary, officials said.

Officials launched a probe following inquiries by The Post about Mulgrew-Daretany’s employment.

Brienza, which also trains teachers, has raked in nearly $40 million from its work for the Department of Education since 2002.