Bilingual teachers brought from the Dominican Republic to work in New York City schools found service on their cell phones abruptly cut off last week — adding to the anxiety they face amid an investigation of the Department of Education employees who recruited them.
The disruption came without warning or explanation as city and federal agencies investigate complaints that the Dominican teachers have been exploited and threatened.
“I realized it when one of the other teachers told me, ‘Check your phone to see if it’s only mine that’s running low,’” one told The Post. “I wasn’t able to make calls, I wasn’t able to get access to the Internet.”
The teachers, who work with Spanish-speaking students learning English, said ADASA, a fraternal group of Dominican-American school administrators, insisted on providing them with cell phones, charging each $60 a month for the service.
“We tried to buy one when we arrived,” a teacher said. “They said, “No, it’s not possible. You don’t have credit.’”
Teachers said they paid the $60 fee last month, but will not pay this month because ADASA cut off communication with them.
“We don’t see ADASA anywhere and they just cut the [phone] line. We don’t know what happened because they don’t talk to us at all about anything,” one said.
ADASA could not be reached for comment. The teachers are seeking to purchase their own phones and service.
As The Post has reported, ADASA set up three rooming houses in the Bronx, requiring at least 19 teachers to each pay $1,300 to $1,450 a month for a single room, and share a kitchen and bathroom with others. Several teachers who rejected the arrangements were terminated and lost their visas, they said.
A co-op on Marion Avenue that houses three female teachers was purchased for $155,000 in 2006 by Juana Polanco-Abreu, the late mother of Emmanuel Polanco, who is first vice-president of ADASA and principal of MS 80.
Asked repeatedly, city officials would not explain why a woman who died several years ago is still listed in public records as the owner.
Most of the teachers paid rent to Daniel Calcaño, ADASA’s treasurer. Polanco’s wife, Sterling Báez, a DOE teacher, collected rent money from teachers in the co-op.
After a Post report, Báez told the teachers they could move, and offered to refer them to someone who could help them find a new place, they said.
“Thank you, but we don’t need your help. We prefer to do it ourselves,” the women replied.
The Polancos still have keys to the teachers’ rooms and mailbox, which they cannot open themselves, they said.
The DOE removed Polanco from MS 80 last month, and replaced him with an acting principal.
The Special Commissioner of Investigation for city schools is still probing the rental arrangements, a spokesman confirmed Friday.
Teachers were afraid to speak openly after being told not to say anything because of the ongoing probe.
But they acknowledged being under a lot of stress: “We don’t want the situation to impact on our jobs. We have to be strong and do a good job,” one said.
The DOE did not respond to The Post’s request for comment. Chancellor David Banks has commented on NY1, calling ADASA “an amazing group.”
“They came to me with this idea to help us with needing more bilingual teachers. That wasn’t my idea, they actually came. It was innovative, it was out-of-the-box thinking.”
