Teachers lament sluggish Internet

Slow Internet connections have hindered the work of public school teachers and other educational staff, costing the city millions of dollars.

According to the United Federation of Teachers (UFT), the city paid more than 30,000 teachers and other personnel more than $38 million in overtime for work they had to complete after hours or at home due to slow Internet connections at their schools.

An April 26 UFT e-mail to chapter leaders throughout the five boroughs revealed that arbitration between the union and the city deemed teachers and other staff were entitled to back pay for time completing lesson plans and filing reports online after normal working hours between Sept. 2011 and Dec. 31, 2012.

Educators received a total of $38 million in overtime pay in their April 30 paychecks. A second round of payments was made to cover the period between Jan. 1 and March 2013, with the overtime rates calculated by principals and educators on a school-by-school basis.

Slow Internet speeds are endemic in public schools in the northwest Bronx and the rest of the city, according to a recent report by Manhattan Borough President Scott Stringer’s office called “New York City’s Digital Deficit.” The study says the Internet at three quarters of city schools operates at a crawling pace — 100 times slower than speeds called for in President Barack Obama’s long-term National Broadband Plan.

Officials from the Department of Education (DOE) did not respond to several requests from The Press for comment.

But teachers say the sluggish Internet speeds hamper their ability to efficiently work.

“It was a huge inconvenience,” said Alan Ettman, an English teacher and UFT representative at DeWitt Clinton High School. “[Students] were grumbling to me all the time."

The problem appears to be most pronounced for special education students and teachers.