By Gabriela Resto-Montero
DNAinfo Reporter/Producer
UPPER EAST SIDE — Teachers angry over the education department's refusal to transfer an administrator whom they claim is abusive out of the elite Bronx High School of Science protested near the mayor's house Thursday.
A crowd of about 50 teachers from the top academic school and their supporters demonstrated over the continuing employment of Rosemarie Jahoda at East 79th Street and Fifth Avenue, in sight of Mayor Michael Bloomberg's home.
"We're trying to alert Mayor Bloomberg about the damage and educational environment at the Bronx School of Science," said Peter Lamphere, 30, a teacher at the school and United Federation of Teachers chapter president.
The protesters said Jahoda intimidated and demeaned colleagues in the school's math department. An independent arbiter investigated the allegations after 20 of 22 teachers in the department filed a complaint and determined that the harassment had taken place.
"The Department of Education ignored the low teacher morale," Lamphere said.
Department of Education Chancellor Joel Klein's decision to keep Jahoda at the school went against the advice of independent arbiter Carol Wittenberg, who also advised that teacher Lamphere be transferred to another post.
"We disagree and reject the fact finder's report," said Ann Forte, a spokeswoman for the department.
Teachers in the math department were not harassed but rather resistant to changes that Jahoda tried to make, said David Brodsky, chief executive of labor policy implementation for the Department of Education, in a letter to Wittenberg and the UFT.
While the mayor's neighbors may have heard the teachers' complaints, Mayor Bloomberg was out hosting a kick-off to the Puerto Rican Day Parade at the time of the protest.
