$40 Million In Tax Dollars Go To 600 NYC Teachers, To Sit In a Rubber Room
$40 Million In Tax Dollars Go To 600 NYC Teachers
To Sit And Do Absolutely Nothing
(Guardian reports) New York to erase 'rubber rooms' for
suspended teachers
Kafkaesque and costly system of leaving accused teachers in limbo for up to three years - on full pay - to end
New York City and its teachers' unions have reached a deal to put an end to a bizarre and Kafkaesque system in which suspended teachers are placed in holding centres, dubbed "rubber rooms", doing nothing on full pay in some cases for as long as 10 years (with salaries as high as $70,000 per year).
The rubber rooms - so nicknamed after the padded cells of old-style mental hospitals - have become a symbol of the unacceptable face of the city's education system, which is the largest in the US. Around 600 teachers are currently occupying the temporary reassignment centres, as they are officially known, in locations across the city, including a trailer site in Washington Heights.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/apr/16/new-york-teacher-rubber-rooms
UPDATE: NY TO CLOSE RUBBER ROOMS
The city's bizarre disciplinary system that pays teachers accused of misconduct for months and years on end for doing nothing is being expelled.
Mayor Bloomberg announced a "breakthrough" agreement with the United Federation of Teachers today that's designed to clear a backlog of more than 600 cases by year's end and shutter the eight teacher reassignment centers known as "rubber rooms" on the last day of school in June.
The deal will force most educators accused of misdeeds to work for their earnings in district offices or in non-teaching roles in schools until their cases are resolved.
Those accused of more serious sexual or financial misconduct would be sent home with pay rather than be given administrative duty, while those charged with felony offenses in criminal court would be removed from their schools without pay.
The New York Post has been reporting on this for months.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/nyc_to_close_rubber_rooms_for_teachers_4d4KeeM6b2PrKkUdd3cvTK
Filmmakers offer an inside look at NYC's 'rubber rooms'
Two documentary filmmakers have infiltrated New York City's infamous "rubber rooms" -- the eight disciplinary dens around the city where educators accused of wrongdoing while away months, or even years, at full pay -- to reveal teachers snoozing at their desks, holding jam sessions, playing board games, and breaking into fights.
Rubber rooms, or "reassignment centers," were created by the city Department of Education as a dumping ground for teachers awaiting charges ranging from incompetence to sexual misconduct. The educators are required to report to their room daily and must, by law, be paid their full salary until their matter is resolved.
http://www.nypost.com/p/news/local/bored_of_ed_in_fPRMkAqNVBQ4hWAs1XYICM
Associated Press: NYC to stop paying teachers to do nothing
By KAREN MATTHEWS (AP)
NEW YORK The city will end the practice of paying teachers to play Scrabble, read or surf the Internet in reassignment centers nicknamed "rubber rooms" as they await disciplinary hearings, Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the teachers union announced Thursday.
http://www.google.com/hostednews/ap/article/ALeqM5heYRW9pbqE-Ezt-lidTx-rGzP7IAD9F3OI7O1