A wave of veteran teachers and supervisors is saying goodbye to the city public school system – 4,388 have retired since January.
Of that total, a flood of 3,259 educators retired effective this month, according to the Teachers Retirement System.
At this pace, the number of educators leaving the city Department of Education and collecting pensions will shatter the 5,000 mark for the second consecutive year.
United Federation of Teachers president Randi Weingarten said such an exodus was not anticipated and blamed the high number of retirements on the Bloomberg administration’s sweeping reorganization of the school system.
“This year, we didn’t expect a big retirement year,” Weingarten said. “This is about disrespect. A lot of members are feeling disrespected and not supported by this administration.
“The mayor and chancellor are driving people with years of experience out of the system.”
Last year, about 5,000 instructors and supervisors left after being offered an early retirement incentive.
Schools Chancellor Joel Klein’s office dismissed the criticism.
“For the upcoming school year, we are hiring over 10,000 new teachers – at least 2,000 more than last year – which shows exactly how excited people are about the changes we are making in the city’s public school system,” said Klein spokesman Jerry Russo.
Mayor Bloomberg and the union agreed on a contract last June that retroactively boosted teacher salaries, which raised pensions.
Teachers were not offered incentives to retire early this year.
Meanwhile, City Hall and the supervisors union reached a deal this year that increases salaries of principals and other school managers. About 250 principals and other managers have retired since May – an increase over last year, according to the Council of Supervisors and Administrators.
Last month, Klein admitted he initially underestimated the number of retirements and now expects a 20 percent increase over last year’s number.