Press Release
Contact: Sam Anderson- 212.252.2997
10 June 2009
Exposing The “Rubber Room:” Bloomberg-Klein Hypocrisy
and Teacher Injustice
Black New Yorkers for Educational Excellence (BNYEE) is holding a press conference at 10AM Thursday 11 June at District 13 headquarters at Park Place & Underhill Ave in the Prospect Heights section of Brooklyn.
We will be there to reveal to the citizens of New York, the intolerable conditions thousands of educators endure annually when they face charges of ethical, behavioral or political misconduct. These educators languish in horrendous and demeaning administrative purgatory in eight Temporary Reassignment Centers (aka "administrative reassignment centers” ) found throughout the boroughs waiting for their hearing which may not occur for a year or more.
We are especially concerned about the disproportionate numbers of Black and Latino Educators found in the “Rubber Rooms.” Last year, Black and Latino educators made up 65% of all educators in these demeaning centers. Yet, Black & Latino educators comprise less that 30% of all NYC educators.
BNYEE will be joined by current public school educators, parents and concerned citizens who are outraged by these “Gitmo” styled conditions.
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RELATED:
First cut of "The Rubber Room" Movie
5 comments:
We know there's a disproportionate number of older teachers, and now there's some evidence of bias along racial lines. If this is true, where is the UFT? Why are they not suing for age and racial discrimination?
It seems to me it would be pretty easy for the UFT to verify the numbers and either absolve the DOE of blame or sue them if they are at fault. What's the holdup?
If there's one thing we've learned, whatever the UFT does is for the purpose of PR. After all, they are part of the ed deform crowd looking to blame teachers. So to remain a member of the club, the UFT can't step into defending rubber room teachers or they will be tossed out.
It looks like it is up to outside agencies to do the work of exposure and defense Mr. T.
I heard they call it the rubber room because none of the charges stick.
Facts:
1. More than 95% of the teachers sent to the rubber rooms over the past 5 years (700 + ?) were over 40
2. The arbitration process is fixed. The NYSUT lawyers and arbitrators are corrupt.
There are teachers in these district jails at LAUSD for reasons other than poor performance or poor judgement; they are often singled out because they are older, which means they are earn higher wages. Race, gender and most notably class seem to play into this scenerio, but it appears many whites are targeted by Latino men, particularly women with strong opinions. Some inmates are scapegoats; others really need to be out of the classroom because they are not fit for service. A handful are set up to fall by administrators who are petty, paranoid and punitive;the resent Socratic discourse and the kind of collaboration it inspires or retalliate when an astute, ethically responsible teacher reports abuse, non-compliance, harassment or white collar crimes. The appeals process is a lengthy ordeal for teachers who do not "languish" as they want to teach, care about their careers and experience grave emotional pain coupled with stress at being found guilty until proven innocent. As their union rep ignores the gravity of this predicament, the district digs up dirt, twists things and cages them in cold, dead offices where the office workers look upon them with undisguised disdain. It's a waste, but until the public school districts make administrative personell accountable and offer them wages that do not exceed those of teachers, it seems unlikely any reform will amount to much more than a money making scam on some enterprising but otherwise clueless educrat's part because our urban schools are not effecient democracies; many take on the ever uncertain form of fascist chaos--cutting costs at any cost except that of the educrats' careers.
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