Thank a Union: Alleged Perv Teacher Gets Full Pension of $4k a Month

From the blog site Verum Serum. Disgusting on all levels, felt like it was worth passing along. No wonder California is totally screwed. They will be asking for a federal bailout soon--as if the Feds even have any money--and if that's allowed, we are done. Here's a perfect illustration; criminal, perversion, greed, the disgust trifecta...

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February 2, 2012

Mark Berndt was a 3rd grade teacher in LA who has been charged with 23 counts of lewd acts. The investigation began when a photo processing center saw a disturbing image and turned it over to police. In January 2011 investigators showed the photos to school superintendents who moved to immediately fire Berndt:

L.A. schools Supt. John Deasy — then the No. 2 in command — said he acted to remove Berndt from class the same day he saw the photos and felt there was justification for immediate dismissal. Records indicate that Berndt was pulled from the school on Jan. 6, 2011. And, then-L.A. schools Supt. Ramon C. Cortines, who has since retired, said he ordered Berndt to be fired when he heard about the photos.

The district’s legal staff warned Cortines that there might be complications for acting so quickly. Standard practice in L.A. Unified and elsewhere has been to “house” teachers in a district office, away from students, until a legal issue is resolved. But Cortines said he told senior staff that he didn’t want to wait, an account that was confirmed by a former Cortines aide.

But the alleged pervert hired a law firm associated with teacher’s unions and contested his dismissal. While the case was pending, Berndt retired, entitling him to $4k a month in pension plus lifetime health benefits:

Because Berndt never was officially fired, he retains lifetime health benefits that he earned through decades of service in L.A. Unified. Ekchian said the district is researching its options for trying to rescind those benefits should Berndt be convicted.

To be clear, Berndt hired the lawyer himself, but his ability to game the system demonstrates how powerfully things are rigged in favor of (bad) teacher’s rights over student rights. When administrators can’t fire a man who fed spoonfuls of semen to blindfolded seven year olds, there’s something desperately out of balance with the system. If you find it repulsive that this alleged creep should be entitled to a pension for life for his “service” thank a teacher’s union for making it possible.