© J.C. RiceAryeh Eller
Aryeh Eller taught orchestral music at Hillcrest High School in Queens for just two full years before being suspended in November 1999 for allegedly harassing female students with sexual comments and touching.
He asked girls to lift their shirts to show him their butts, lewdly remarked on their breasts, hugged and kissed them and claimed that he "had a hard time teaching" with the way they dressed, investigators found. He even admitted having a "crush" on a teen.
But blundering educrats called investigators too late. Eller had reached tenure by the time he was brought to trial, where a hearing officer tossed the case on a technicality. And city lawyers failed to appeal.
Unwilling to allow him around kids, the Department of Education simply warehoused him.
Most accused educators go to "rubber rooms" temporarily to await administrative trials. With little or no work to do, some teachers nap, read or do crossword puzzles. But Eller was permanently exiled.
At one point, Eller was also sent to the Division of School Facilities, an office in Long Island City, Queens, to do menial paperwork, if anything.
Where he sits today and what he does, the DOE would not say.
While Eller, 53, hasn't set foot in a classroom for two decades, he remains on the city payroll. In 1998, his salary was $39,239, but it has steadily risen under the city teachers contracts. Last year, he made $132,753.
Eller has been paid at least $1.7 million in salary, with summers off plus full health and pension benefits.
Eller is one of a number of creepy tenured teachers who can't be fired because hearing officers protected their jobs and the city did not fight it.
Wayne Miller was removed as a biology teacher from Jamaica HS in 2002, when he was accused of sexually assaulting a child. The alleged victim recanted, officials said, but the city feared Miller enough to bar him from the classroom forever. His pay rose to $127,333 last year.
James Rampulla Jr., 50, a former teacher at MS 172 in Floral Park, Queens, sent 513 texts to a 14-year-old male student — some after 11 p.m. and with the words "I love you." He gave the boy $200 in cash, Air Jordan sneakers, True Religion jeans and a Wii video-game console. He once put a hand on the boy's thigh and let him watch pornography in his apartment, a probe found.
Hearing officer Mary J. O'Donnell found Rampulla guilty of misconduct but not sexual misconduct. She suspended him without pay for several months instead of terminating him, as the DOE wanted. The DOE did not appeal the decision in court. Banned from kids since 2014, Rampulla collected $131,881 last year.
"Allegations against teachers in this small group relate to inappropriate relationships or actions of a sexual nature involving students," a DOE spokeswoman said, explaining why they are "permanently reassigned."
Education advocates have long argued that a tenure system meant to protect good teachers from unfair removal can also shield terrible ones. Under state law, tenure gives teachers the right to an administrative trial to determine if they can be fired for misconduct or incompetence.
"Nobody would think it makes sense that taxpayers should pay the salary for somebody who's been sexually inappropriate with kids," said Daniel Weisberg, a former DOE official and current CEO of The New Teacher Project, a nonprofit that promotes excellent teachers.
Jonathan Trebiano, a lawyer for parents in a lawsuit seeking reforms of the teacher-discipline system, called it a huge waste.
"You're spending money on the people who don't deserve it, and not putting that money towards ... education," he said.
In Eller's case, the late Ed Stancik, then the Special Commissioner of Investigation for city schools, documented complaints about the teacher's misconduct from 1998:
- Eller asked a girl to lift her shirt to show him her butt. "God bless, you have a nice ass," he told her, adding that he wanted to "date a black chick" and didn't care about her age. He told another student that this girl had "a nice rack."
- Another girl said Eller asked her for a date. He also advised her to wear clothes to show more of her body so boys would ask her out, and he sometimes touched and hugged her tightly.
- Eller told another student she was "well developed" and "would make a good wife." He later told her he had feelings for her and "wouldn't just fall in love with any girl."
- Earlier, Eller once turned off classroom lights during a movie and danced toward a girl with open arms. When he touched her shoulder, she told probers, "I screamed." Eller said "he loved me" and "wants to look at my face and body," she added.
- Eller told another girl that she had "a beautiful face and body" and that the way she dressed "disturbs him — he had a hard time teaching." Once Eller pulled her into an empty room and declared, "I love you."
- In response to the earlier complaints, officials suspended Eller for six months without pay. The Office of Special Investigations simply referred Eller to the Medical Bureau, which performed a "cursory interview" and found him fit to return to class.
When questioned by Stancik's investigators, Eller readily admitted having a "crush" on a girl, calling her "mature for her age" and beautiful. He confessed to hugging her tightly and giving her a "passionate kiss" on the cheek.
He also wrote and signed a detailed statement, saying in part: "I would rather date Hispanic or black girls than stuck-up white girls."
But Eller had already obtained tenure, with prior credit for two years as a substitute. The 2000 effort to boot him collapsed. The hearing officer ruled he wasn't informed of his rights.
The city, under then-Mayor Rudy Giuliani, could have appealed but didn't.
When contacted by The Post, Eller hung up.
Eller99-2718 by New York Post on Scribd
In 1998, his salary was $39,239, butit has steadily risenunder the city teachers contracts. Last year, he made $132,753.