It's Mayor Bloomberg Vs. Teachers Unions, Round II

The New York Sun reports:

Mayor Bloomberg today will move to reopen contract negotiations with the city teachers union, a move sure to ignite a full-scale battle between Mr. Bloomberg and the union's powerful president, Randi Weingarten.

What the administration will ask Ms. Weingarten to do would be unprecedented, a top official said: It wants to have the authority to remove teachers from the city payroll if they remain in the system, but without an actual job, for 12 months.

The push comes in response to a recommendation being released today in a report by a national nonprofit, the New Teacher Project. The report describes a situation it says is "untenable."

Under a contract negotiated in 2005, teachers who have been removed from their schools, or "excessed," remain on the city payroll but are not guaranteed a new job placement. According to the new report, that provision has created a group of more than 600 teachers, known as the "Absent Teacher Reserve," who are receiving regular salary payments and health benefits without actually teaching in a classroom — at a cost projected to reach $81 million by the end of the school year.

The taxpayers vs. the powerful.Paid to do nothing.We wonder if any members of the Gambino Crime Family are aware of this scam?