David Petraeus lands $150K teaching gig — for one class

Disgraced Gen. David Petraeus has landed a teaching position at the City University of New York’s Macaulay Honors College that pays $150,000 for one class — a significant salary that far surpasses that of professors with full course loads.

Gen. Petraeus, who was forced to step down from his role as CIA director after his affair with biographer Paula Broadwell went public, accepted the position in April, the Gawker reported. But his pay was only disclosed recently, due to a Freedom of Information Act request on email correspondence between Gen. Petraeus and the school, Gawker reported.

Gawker also reported that a first-time adjunct professor who teaches a full course load that CUNY is paid about $25,000 a year, by comparison.

Twitter commenters expressed outrage. The Huffington Post reported that New York Times political reporter Nick Confessore, for example, tweeted: “Shouldn’t Petraeus be paying CUNY for its help in advancing his post-scandal rehabilitation?”

Gawker said Gen. Petraeus will lead a class on “developments that could position the United States … to lead the world out of the current global economic slowdown.” His seminar will take about three hours per week, and he’ll also have graduate students to help him with “course research, administration and grading,” Gawker reported. He will also be called upon to lead two lectures, Gawker said.

Gen. Petraeus was initially offered $200,000 for the position, Gawker reported. But it was reduced to $150,000 sometime in the past few weeks.

The original offer, made by outgoing chancellor Matthew Goldstein in February, stated: “We are prepared to offer you a salary of $200,000 per annum, supplemented by funds from a private gift. While I do not yet have a commitment for such a gift, Sid Goodfriend and I agreed that, working together, we can make it a reality. … We could offer you graduate student support to assist you with grading papers, administering exams, conducting research, etc. We could also provide limited additional funds for travel to professional meetings as a representative of CUNY,” Gawker reported.