Sending Teachers to the Rubber Room

posted by Zach Patton

All right, first off: It's not really a padded cell.

But last week's This American Life on NPR includes a story about New York City's "rubber room" -- a "reassignment center" at the city's Board of Education building, for public school teachers who are placed on probation.

It works like this:

Teachers are told to report there instead of their classrooms. No reason is usually given. When they arrive, they find they've been put on some kind of probationary status, and they must report every day until the matter is cleared up. They call it the Rubber Room. Average length of stay? Months, sometimes years.

Years?? And at taxpayers' expense.

It's a fascinating story; really worth listening to.

Comments

[Sunshine]

Some of the teachers in the rubber rooms are guilty and do not care to go back to work and actually prefer being at the rubber rooms. They bring their lap top computers to the rooms, books to read, knitting stuff, do exercise, have book clubs, dance lessons, and all this good, fun stuff is what these teachers do and get paid for. It makes no sense to me and some of us at these rooms are really unhappy and wish that we could go back and be functional human beings again. Do what we set out to do when we decided to be teachers, but we are all stuck in here because the Department of Education and our Mayor do not really care about the children's education. The administration does not care either. The principals allow teachers to lie and make up lies to keep the innocent teachers away because they simply do not like a teacher. They use the children to tell lies as well. It is a really sad thing that is happening in the educational system.
As I said, some of the teachers are guilty as sin and yet they are sitting in these rubber rooms just hanging out and the DOE and the City of New York is paying them. I know that I will be vindicated and it is a damned shame that so much money is going to waste paying teachers that are child molesters and abusive.

[Chad]

There must be reform in the United Federation of Teachers union to allow for the truly guilty teachers to be fired. They are a waste and a drain on taxpayer dollars.

[Tammy White]

Who are u to make statements, were u my friend, have not experienced the horror of being harassed because u are 40 years old or above or earn more than $50,00.00. Unless u have been abused physically or mentally and have been set up because this is the new way to use to excess teachers so than inexperienced new teachers are allowed to use "electronic euipment, " for a substitute for classroom management is a poor sign, you have no business saying negative statements about the teachers. You don't know what it is all about, you are not a victim having your self worth and dignity stripped from you as a teacher. Please don't write things u are not educated about, u are a poor example like Steve Brill, that is so uneducated and presents untrue facts loke these. It surprising and a wonder you or Steve Brill even have jobs or @ the New Yorker. You and he are not well informed but then what do they call it ignorance! By the way unfortunately we can not give a names up!

[G. Griffith]

Tammy White, your argument as an educator in this situation has appalled me. If you were an educator, you would never-I repeat NEVER-post anything using "text language!" How dare you misrepresent educators who want to show the world that we are intelligent and able to teach children! If you were as maltreated as you state, the best way to help your cause is to use proper English, grammar and spelling so that we can at least verify that you are an intelligent being who deserves to be in a classroom!