Teachers' union rep needs fraction work

NEW YORK, Dec. 28 (UPI) -- The president of the New York City teachers' union, Randi Weingarten, may be good with percentages but when it comes to fractions, she needs help.

Weingarten recently brokered a deal for a 7.1 percent pay raise over two years for the teachers in New York. She has also gotten the teachers large raises in the last three contracts.

But Weingarten didn't know what to say when asked a question about fractions on the "The Brian Lehrer Show" on WNYC radio. She went on the show to discuss a recent report calling for a reinvention of U.S. public schools.

"What is 1/3 plus 1/4?" asked the guest host Mike Pesca.

"What is 1/3 and 1/4?" Weingarten repeated. "I would actually have to do it on paper."

New York state standards say that adding fractions with different denominators is sixth grade work. Weingarten defended her lack of a quick answer by saying, "I do it the old-fashioned way.

"You take your paper, your pen, you add it up, you get to the fractional whatever," she added.

The answer, by the way, is 7/12ths.