Despite a new Mayor, the NYC classroom continues to be a hostile environment for teachers. In a new report 20% of teachers were chronically absent (10 or more days) during the 2015-2016 school year. In high poverty schools the percentage of teachers chronically absent was slightly, higher than more affluent communities. However, the highest percentage of chronically absent teachers (25.2%) were found in the working class, immigrants communities that compose District 30 in Queens. While the lowest (13.1%) was the diverse District 1 in Manhattan. Last school year the DOE found that 14.8% of the teachers were chronically absent (11 or more days)..
With one fifth of NYC teachers chronically absent, this negatively affects student academic achievement and results in an unstable school climate. The blame for the high teacher absenteeism rate lays on the doorstep of the DOE who appoint incompetent, vicious, and uncooperative principals, most from the infamous "Leadership Academy". Moreover, the DOE implements policies that pit school administrators against staff. Finally, the DOE is still dominated by Bloomberg holdovers who occupy important policy making positions and have an "us against them" mentality when it comes to a lack of cooperation with teachers.
Despite a new Chancellor, the classroom teacher still thinks of the DOE as the enemy and not a partner in educating children. That's why there is such a high teacher absenteeism rate in the NYC schools.