Midwood High School Teacher Removed From Classroom For Re-Selling Books To Students

An English teacher at Midwood High School has been disciplined for paying for books used in his class out of pocket, and re-selling them to students at a nominal cost, the New York Post reports.

Todd Friedman, who the Post says is a 29-year teaching veteran, reportedly ordered 102 paperback copies of Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein last September, at a total cost of $220 (including shipping).

Friedman then re-sold the books at $2 a piece to students in his AP English class in order to recoup the costs.

Midwood High School principal Michael McDonnell filed a formal complaint against Friedman after learning of the re-sale, the Post said.

DOE regulations apparently prohibit charging students for textbooks, but Friedman told the Post that Midwood High School’s bookstore routinely sells books to students. Friedman received disciplinary charges and has been removed from the classroom. He may even face termination, the Post said.

But the Post also notes that an Office of Special Investigations review found that Friedman did not profit from re-selling the books to students, and actually incurred a loss.

Friedman, who the Post reports is a winner of the state Library Association’s Intellectual Freedom Award, argues that the disciplinary actions against him are in “retaliation for his filing unfair-labor charges against the school in March of last year.”