Weeks after being flagged for her pro-Hamas agit-prop pushed on toddlers at PS 59 on Manhattan’s Upper East Side, Siriana Abboud remains on the payroll and unpunished — because it’s next to impossible to discipline, much less fire, misbehaving New York City teachers.
And also because she has friends in high place.
Last month, The Post’s Susan Edelman broke the news of Abboud pushing an anti-Israel agenda on pre-K tots and sharing tips on indoctrinating kids online: Her site’s Allusio Academy preschool program seems to have come directly from a Hamas pre-K curriculum guide.
Her Instagram page is chock-a-block with pro-Palestinian content: skewed teach-ins on the history of Palestine, Zionism, European colonialism, and “orientalism,” plus how to help your child advocate for Palestine.
Days after Hamas’ Oct. 7 atrocities, she wrote on Instagram: “we stand with those still tearing down border walls,” and “we show solidarity with those still fighting to free their stolen land.”
Parents have asked the city Department of Education to investigate this teacher’s hate, but so far all that’s happened is that she’s gone on indefinite “medical leave” — an obvious sign that the DOE is simply hoping to wait out the storm.
State law makes it near-impossible to fire a bad or even dangerous teacher who has tenure: The union-inspired arbitration rules can drag out the process for years.
In one infamous case, a city teacher accused of misconduct toward his students earned over $1.7 million in salary in the course of a 20-year “rubber room” stint.
But that’s not all that’s going on here.
Abboud’s issues go back at least a year: Jewish parents and teachers at the school complained back in October 2022 when she put a crude antisemitic poster on the bulletin board outside of her classroom.
Other than having her take it down, the only official response was a single “restorative justice” session, where her colleagues could express their feelings.
Within weeks of that, the city Department of Education honored Abboud with a 2023-24 Big Apple Award, applauding her work “as a liberation-inspired educator,” who “centers children’s agency and global consciousness,” raises the “societal expectations” of young children and other woke clap-trap.
In other words, she won official acclaim for the radicalism that now has her out of the classroom, but still getting paid.
Schools Chancellor David Banks plainly hasn’t cleaned house at DOE headquarters, if he’s even tried.
No wonder alert middle- and working-class families are fleeing the DOE’s schools.