Fidgety: The DOE -Where Anything Goes...

December 25, 2008

The DOE -Where Anything Goes...

In a short time, I have seen many teachers, principals, APs and school aides come and go from the Rubber Room. The funny thing is that when they leave, the chances of hearing from them again are close to none. The last teacher who was returned to her school was given a half a day's notice and then, Poof! She was gone. We never heard from her again.
"I am happy to be going back but I feel so bad for you all." she said.
"It's ok", I say, "Hey, you did your time."
Going back to the school environment can be a mixed blessing. It's like being on parole. All of the same threats are still out there. No teacher is safe. For a teacher bearing the scars of the rubber room, the chances of getting a U rating and being reassigned again are even higher the second time around. Life never goes back to the way it was before. A teacher rarely returns to the school or position from whence they came. In fact, a teacher rarely returns to a teaching 'position'. Their 'position' has either been eliminated or they will be replaced by a younger, newer, low-cost teacher. Although the UFT chaps will never admit it, most experienced teachers will return as ATRs and be thrown into the land of 'Anything goes'.
So here we still are, left to continue staring at each other from 8 to 3...waiting for a ship that hasn't even left the shore...

Blogger Chaz said...

I think for many long term RR's just being back in a school environment is uncomfortable. Furthermore, I believe that many Principals will give you a second chance if they accept you in their school.

December 25, 2008 10:52 AM

1 comment:

Chaz said...: I think for many long term RR's just being back in a school environment is uncomfortable. Furthermore, I believe that many Principals will give you a second chance if they accept you in their school.; December 25, 2008 at 12:52 PM

Origin of The Rubber Room...(From Rubberroommovie.com)

Exact specifics as to when, why and how The Rubber Room came into being are next to impossible to come by, although wild speculation abounds. The likelihood is that, rather than being consciously created by any one person or group, The Rubber Room slowly but surely developed over a period of years through a process of trial and error, whereby teachers deemed unfit to remain in the classroom where "reassigned" to the nearest empty and available administrative space.
The term "The Rubber Room" appears nowhere in the formal legislative code governing New York City schools. When a New York City educator is sent to The Rubber Room, that educator is not openly or specifically told that he or she will be going to a place called "The Rubber Room". Moreover, if you telephoned an official in the New York City school system and asked for directions to "The Rubber Room", you may very well likely receive a response, possibly masked in faux confusion, telling you that there is no such place called "The Rubber Room". Nevertheless, "the room" undoubtedly exists and, because it has no official name, those three provocative and inflammatory words, "The Rubber Room", make up the default epithet by which it has come to be known, even by high-ranking school officials, many of whom find the phrase distasteful.
The exact meaning behind the words "The Rubber Room" is a topic of hot debate, particularly for occupants of The Rubber Room itself, some arguing that it is a reference to a padded room where mentally ill patients are placed, others proposing it is a room where once normal people are slowly and steadily driven crazy, still others believing it to be simply a generic allusion to a prison cell. There are even some -- more than one might initially suspect -- who claim to have been present during the exact moment when the phrase was coined, or even to have coined it themselves. Aside from etymological differences, however, almost everyone agrees that "The Rubber Room" is a pejorative term used to describe a room where New York City teachers are sent, usually involuntarily, to sit idle day after day while still collecting their salaries, often for months and sometimes for years at a time.
Over the years, many have made efforts to eradicate The Rubber Room entirely. For example, in March 2002, then Chancellor Harold Levy vowed to close The Rubber Room after becoming frustrated with a particular case, and in January 2004 Randi Weingarten, UFT President, called for an unconditional end to all of New York's Rubber Rooms. Despite best efforts, however, "the room" remains. http://www.rubberroommovie.com/

Do not believe...

Do not believe because you read it in a book,
Do not believe because you saw it on television,
Do not believe because science says so,
Do not believe because a famous person says so,
Do not believe because a wise person says so,
Do not believe because a wise person believes it,
Do not believe because your best friend believes it,
Do not believe because everyone else believes it,
Do not believe because others have believed it for a thousand years,
Do not believe because you've heard it many times before,
Do not believe because you are told you must,
Do not believe because others expect you to,
Do not believe because it gets you accepted
Do not believe because it will make your parents happy,
Do not believe because it will get you noticed,
Do not believe because you want to believe,
Do not believe because you can't afford not to,
Do not believe because it helps you cope,
Do not believe because you'd go mad if you didn't,
Do not believe because you must believe something
Do not believe because there's nothing else to believe,
Do not believe because it feels good to believe,
Do not believe because it makes sense,
Do not believe because your eyes tell you it is so,
Do not believe because it is your own experience,
Do not believe because it feels true,
Do not believe because you know it is true,
Do not believe any of this, Believe only that you are,
And do not even believe that,
For that is beyond belief.

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