In today’s entry we have the unfortunately named Wayne Brightly, erstwile teacher for the NY school system. Mr. Brightly is a 38 year old black man.
Mr. Brightly had a bit of a problem passing NY’s state certification exam. He failed it at least twice. If he failed it again, he risked losing his $59,000/year job (well, DUH!).
So instead, the tall, thin, young and black Mr. Brightly coerced squat, fat, old and white Rubin Leitner
into taking the exam for him. It seems that Mr. Leitner has a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in history, but he also suffers from Asperger’s Syndrome and at the time was homeless. Mr. Brightly was bright enough to get Mr. Leitner sufficient identification to get him in to take the exam, but neglected to consider what the result would be. Mr. Leitner not only passed the teacher’s exam, he did so much better than Mr. Brightley’s previous attempts that it aroused suspicion. So they called Mr. Brightley in for an interview. He sent Mr. Leitner with his fake ID.
Things, shall we say, fell apart at that point.
But wait! That’s not the best part! Mr. Brightley has been teaching in the NYC school system since 1992! According to the New York Daily News:
Wayne Brightly’s city schools career:
* 1992 – Began working as a substitute teacher at IS 171 in Brooklyn.
* 1994 – Became a substitute teacher at PS 7 in Brooklyn.
* 1995 – Became a substitute teacher at PS 65 in Brooklyn.
* 1998 – Became a teacher at IS 171.
* 2004 – Became a teacher at MS 142 in the Bronx.
* 2005 – Reassigned to a regional office job after he was charged.
Yes, that’s right! Thirteen years teaching without passing the certification test, and he’s still on the payroll!
I couldn’t make this up.