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May 06, 2008
The Rubber Room
Joe sent me a link to an education article that discusses what is known as 'the rubber room.' When a tenured teacher is suspended, they are sent to a holding office. The main focus of the article was that $65 million is wasted supporting these 700 teachers. These teachers aren't teaching because they are going to have a hearing to remain or be fired, with the average wait being 19 months.
As a teacher, I would say a few things. First off, the list does include every teacher with a problem- all the way from a teacher who participated in a war protest to the teacher accused of inappropriately touching a student. The DOE always errs on the side of caution, and I'm glad that they protect the rights of teachers by not suspending someone without pay. When compared to the total number of teachers, they represent 1/2 of one percent. I laughed about the room descriptions, as the hot, stuffy rooms sound identical to most classrooms in NYC.
$65 million is a lot of money, although you have to again realize that means it is also just 1/2 of one percent of salaries paid to NYC teachers. I do not know the process of the hearing personally, and I would hope that for most minor offenses that the wait time is minimal. What is important is that safe teachers be returned as quickly as possible to the classroom, while unsafe teachers are kept away from kids.
For a bureaucracy, the DOE is a relatively fair program. Granted, I have not been stuck in a rubber room (yet). Would the hiring of more people to speed the process work? Possibly, but it could also be the problem of both a defense and prosecution team requiring time to be ready. I also am not sure if I would want some of these rubber room people performing other responsibilities, so I would think that it is one of those 'least bad' options.
My two cents on 65 million.
Posted by G at May 6, 2008 06:53 AM
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Comments
I heard a story on This America Life a couple months ago about a documentary being made about the Rubber Room. It was a very interesting piece.
Posted by: Brian at May 6, 2008 11:24 AM
This American Life had a great program on the "Rubber Rooms" a while back. However, it was fairly heavy on the drama, and at the time I wondered what another view would be. Glad to hear what you think.
Posted by: Long Story Longer at May 6, 2008 07:33 PM