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New York City Teacher Lucio Celli Threatens To Stab To Death Three Federal Court Judges, Yet Remains on Salary
Over the past 17 years I have been saddened to see attacks, lies, misinformation and false charges filed by the NYC Department of Education as well as school districts around NY State against good people who dedicate their lives to educating children and young adults in New York City. By good people I mean individuals who are caring and capable teachers, counselors, tutors, advocates, and administrators, and who have high standards for their own conduct. They are, after all, role models for young minds. NYC Department of Education teacher and UFT Solidarity member Lucio Celli is not one of these people.
          
   Lucio Celli   
Opinion-Editorial from Betsy Combier:

Over the past 17 years I have been saddened to see attacks, lies, misinformation, and false charges filed by the NYC Department of Education as well as school districts around NY State against good people who dedicate their lives to educating children and young adults in New York City. By good people I mean individuals who are caring and capable teachers, counselors, tutors, advocates, and administrators, and who have high standards for their own conduct. They are, by definition, role models for young minds. I am in awe of educators who dedicate their lives to expanding the minds of young and old.

NYC Department of Education teacher Lucio Celli is not one of these people. On or about November 13 Lucio was arrested and remanded to prison for sending a death threat to three Federal judges:

USA v Celli Complaint

Lucio Celli was arrested and put into the MDC (Manhattan Detention Center) but then let out on bail paid for by his parents, who gave their house in Wappinger Falls as collateral. Conditions of Celli's release include no internet use at all (but he remains on salary at $100,000+).

On January 4, 2021 his Legal Defense attorney and the Judge allowed him to file a letter Complaint. Here it is:

https://wp-advocatz-uploads.s3.amazonaws.com/uploads/2021/01/new-letter-Jan-4-2021.pdf

You can trust me when I say everything in this document is a lie. Lucio needs a restricted space and medical attention.

I met Luco Celli in the Bronx "rubber room" on the top floor of 501 Courtlandt Avenue in 2008 when I worked at the UFT as a Special Representative. I did not find him angry or abusive, just very talkative and not always making any sense.

I saw him on my weekly visits to his rubber room until I left the UFT in 2010 when the large warehouses - the original rubber rooms - were closed by agreement between Randi Weingarten, UFT President, and former NYC DOE Chancellor Joel Klein.

His story is a sad case of an educator who is angry and bitter at the world and has cursed and bullied anyone who challenged him in any way, openly, on the internet since 2014. He was and is empowered by the hateful, vindictive cyberbully Francesco Portelos. Francesco is the founder and leader of the Group known as UFT Solidarity,. When friend and blogger Laurie L. told Francesco to stop attacking and insulting me, Francesco put her private medical status out on the internet to pay her back. She threw him out of her ATR Support Group, and Francesco started his own ATR Alliance listserv so that he could insult her and me without anyone telling him to stop. More recently Lucio Celli emailed another friend of mine and told her to tell me to file a Complaint against Francesco and my Judge. When she told me to do that, and I let the judge know that I was not going to follow his demand, he threatened her with going to her rabbi and others and telling them what he thought of her, for telling me what he asked her to tell me. Lucio then called Peter Zucker a faggot for supporting Laurie. It never ends.

See also:

Editorial: Is Francesco Portelos a Danger to Tenure Law? by Betsy Combier

EDITORIAL: Cyberstalker Francesco Portelos and His Blame Game Must Be Stopped
(2015)

Francesco Portelos: "A Troublemaking, Combative, and Disgruntled Employee", Loses His Federal Case by Editor Betsy Combier
(2016)

Both Lucio and Francesco Portelos have filled the internet with hate-filled rants against anyone they don't like. They both lie and send out anonymous emails as if other people were following their example. Their mission is to convince educators to intimidate, lie, abuse, stalk, harass, and insult anyone who does not do what they want. They believe that this is "power". The lies about me telling Lucio and Francesco that Randi makes deals behind their backs paid Lucio's Judge (Cogan) $10,000 at a lunch with the Judge and blogger Peter Zucker are outrageous. He is well-known for his misconduct.

Francesco was charged with 3020-a by the NYC DOE in 2012 for exactly the same type of behavior he has created his UFT Solidarity to do, and he was warned in the decision of Felice Busto to cease and desist. He did the opposite. His so-called "followers" are being targeted by administrators, I have been told by a teacher who was told by her principal exactly that after the teacher asked Francesco to post the principal on the ANOI list. The teacher was charged with 3020-a and terminated.

Francesco Portelos is especially proud of his racist, libelous website "Don't Tread on Educators" and "Administrators in Need of Improvement" which writes up Principals for the crimes and misconduct he "knows" that they are committing based upon someone sending him an email saying so. Truth has no importance to him, nor does he care to give anyone a chance to defend themselves. I have been told that Principals use this list to charge teachers, believing that anyone who they do not like has spoken to Francesco and asked him to place his/her name on this list. UFT Solidarity members John Silvers and Robert Torrens have both been fired. Francesco did not help either man.

In August 2015 Francesco, who at the time was preparing to run for President of the UFT (he lost bigtime), was invited to lunch by Randi Weingarten. He touted this meeting with Randi as the start of his new career at the UFT. He was sure she would hand him a cushy job there, just like the job she gave me in 2007.

Randi did not hire him. Two weeks later, on September 20 2015 the slander, libel, and cyberbullying began against me, which continues today. Randi evidently told Francesco she was not hiring him, and that I had done a good job for the UFT and its' members, which infuriated Francesco and led him to attack me for more than 3 years.

On September 20, 2015, he produced a video where Jim Callaghan, a former reporter at the UFT newspaper, called me a homophobe. When I asked Francesco to take this lying down, he screamed at me to shut up and never contact him again. In July 2016 he hacked my blog "NYC Rubber Room Reporter" and deleted all the material I had written under the "3020-a Newswire" on the teacher discipline procedures which I have been observing and participating in as part of the legal team defending teachers since 2003. (I have worked on more than 74 3020-a hearings.)

Francesco and his soldier Lucio Celli decided in 2015 to make me regret not joining their group. In September 2015 Francesco, Lydia Howrilka, and his newly formed UFT Solidarity group chose me as one of their first victims because I would not have any contact with anyone associated with Francesco because of the cyberbullying, lies, and slander/libel I saw sent out by both Francesco and Lucio. Francesco created a video where I became a homophobe, and Randi Weingarten - then President of the UFT - should never have hired me (in 2007) because this violated the non-discrimination policy at the UFT. This was a staggering lie and shocking to me, who was helping Francesco at the time with the UFT matters and teachers in trouble. I am a firm supporter of tolerance. I march in parades and write about the crime of discrimination of any kind. I lived in Egypt, Israel, and Jordan for 5 years, I am never a homophobe. I am a person who sees all disabilities and personal characteristics of a person as different and unique, not different and shameful.

In October 2016 I was sent a poster that Francesco created and placed on Google saying I was a criminal, liar and thief. He made this up in partnership with Lucio Celli, as part of the campaign to end my advocacy work for good. Lucio had asked for my help in writing his Federal discrimination Complaint, and I met with him at the diner across the street from where I live and spent many hours talking with him about where he saw discrimination. He was adamant that the U-rating he received at his school was discriminatory against him as a gay man with HIV. However, he had not told the school administrators that he was HIV+ until after they gave him bad ratings. He told them he was taking meds for depression. I suggested that he ask his attorney to file his discrimination lawsuit under seal because all Court papers are public. His lawyer, Steve Morelli, did not request that the papers be sealed. when he filed Lucio's complaint. Nevertheless, Lucio was already sending out horribly nonsensical emails to 300+ people in NYC politics, DOE, UFT, Court Administration, saying he was HIV+.

In 2018 Lucio told my husband's employer, Hunter College, that I stole my husband's account and I was using PACER and Westlaw on the public dime, so he wanted $20,000 paid to him. I never have used my husband's account, and have my own PACER account that I pay for. I don't use Westlaw. When Hunter College General Counsel answered Lucio's FOIL request that there were no documents, he called her a liar and Appealed to NYSED's Robert Freeman to give him the document (that never existed). Hunter College does not offer Westlaw or PACER. I am astonished that public school teachers who hate me go after my family? Francesco's wife Angela and Lucio's mom and dad are off limits as far as I am concerned, but to Lucio and Francesco, family is fair game. This is wrong.

If you hold Lucio or Francesco accountable for their actions, as I chose to do in 2015, you will become a target for their unforgettable, illegal, and abusive rants, as I have been. Francesco gives his cyber-mob the right to call/email me or someone he doesn't like and yell insults, curses, and profanity for things no one ever did. I refused at all times to join, condone, or associate with anyone who degrades humiliates, and/or ridicules others for personal gain.

Whereas Francesco Portelos has been successful at getting people to do what he wants in order for him to say he "did not know" or "was not aware" of the misconduct, crime, whatever, Lucio has stated in his 100+ emails to 50-300+ people at a time that he wants to be terminated, and he wants a 3020-a (arbitration for tenured teachers) and he does not care what laws he breaks:

From: Lucio Celli
Date: Tue, Feb 28, 2017 at 9:59 PM
Subject: Re: to Mr. Bharara and I truly hope that I broke federal law
To: "ksolimando@schools.nyc.gov" , "robert.freeman@dos.ny.gov" , Richard Condon , "rweingarten@aft.org" , Mandel Susan , "dstrom@aft.org" , Guerra Charity , Drantch Todd , Chancellor Carmen Fariña , "lcelli@schools.nyc.gov" , "jbaranello3@schools.nyc.gov" , "aross@uft.org" , "zcarter@law.nyc.gov" , "preet.bharara@usdoj.gov" , phoebeb@childrensaidsociety.org, mpeters@doi.nyc.gov, leslie@yu.edu, eschneiderman@ag.ny.gov, eric.lane@hofstra.edu, ecacavas@perb.ny.gov, courtenayej@childrensaidsociety.org, cbattle@nysut.org, canelson@wcl.american.edu, bill.araiza@brooklaw.edu, anthonyr@childrensaidsociety.org, ablassman@perb.ny.gov, JWirenius@perb.ny.gov, JORourke@perb.ny.gov, HFriedma@law.nyc.gov, BdeBlasio@cityhall.nyc.gov, "sedelman@nypost.com"

Dear Mr. Bharara:

Attached you will hear an administrative hearing that occurred on November 2, 2016. I truly hope that I broke federal law because I want to play my audio recordings. Normally, I play it safe that I stop or erase audio recording, as I am secretly taping. I did not do that on November 2, 2016 ….I want to sit down and ram my audio recordings down people’s throat and the audio recording deals with:

1.Cole telling me created a teacher’s evaluation system—but it is a mandatory subject of negotiation
2.At my Louderrmill hearing … Bernard said, “Oh, we can’t speak about that” that’s all she said
3.Mandel falsified grievance decision
4.Blassman told me, “Oh you can’t put in for hat…” she was talking about Mandel’s decision and the special education complaint that I gave her
5.Lavaman and Fogel said arbitration decision existed and Battle said that lied
6.Lavin stop me from presenting evidence and stopped me from speaking (she also motioned which edited the official audio recording of my Loudermill hearing…but I made my own)
7.Jackson-Chase confirmed that DOE sent me an edited audio recording and Chancellor Fairna was CC’ed
8.Chancellor’s Rep (Kshenksy) and hearing officer (Linchestien) said that administration did not get notice of Jackson-Chase’s email …..the administration in question was Jackson-Chases/Farina
9.Kshenky lied about DOE policy because he asked about my behavior of audio recording on Oct 8, 2016

I have FOIL request and NONE, and I none, of the policies or rules cited are found in the FOIL request.

I hope this works because the next step is to curse Farina out in public to get my 3020 …I need a job but they will have to fire me because it will be the only way that I will stop. Battle/Drantch/Blassman made it personal on April 8, 2017, because I will not be ashamed or be put in a position of fear…not when I have audio recordings"

Other educators are fired for doing exactly what Lucio Celli and Francesco Portelos are doing. Yet the NYC Department of Education has not ever charged Lucio with a 3020-a arbitration.

This shows, I believe, the random and arbitrary process of charging teachers in New York State. I write about the speed over rights and the terrible fraud imbedded in the charging process, but the bottom line is that anyone can win a 3020-a - or lose - depending on the strength and experience of the person defending you.

My conclusion is: Both Lucio Celli and Francesco Portelos deserve to be terminated from the DOE, immediately.

Betsy Combier
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