TEACHER ABUSE...at its' worst.

Teacher Abuse at its' Worst
"Bullying, coercive, abusive men and women--superintendents, regional leadership, directors and principals--are the real reason schools fail. I know it in my gut. Good people are forced out. Fine and fun people are targeted with "documentation" and "discipline." And what are we left with? Suck-up sycophants who lie and cheat and cover up for the bosses. They have no other choices if they want to survive. Our school districts' upper echelons of leadership are full of just such people. Abusive leadership and suck up, rear end kissing subordinates....who happen to be the bosses of other subordinates....all sucking up, lying and covering up for each other...until the chain lands flatly and completely in the classroom. There is no one to suck up to the teacher. But there are layers upon layers of danger for that teacher if she has any ethics at all. The first layer of danger is the principal."  (K.W., 2013)

And now the comments...

80.FidgetyTeachNY December 8th, 201012:09pm It never ceases to amaze me how uninformed and naive the public is. They are still buying into the lie that it is the teacher's fault for having to sit and wait at the taxpayer's expense. This is just what the the Dept. of Ed. wants you to believe- when in reality it is the DOE and NYSED who are not paying the arbitrators to submit their findings and final judgements on the 3020a hearings.
It is not the choice of the reassigned teacher to sit and do nothing. It is the DOE's goal to get the teachers so bored and frustrated that they want to give up, admit guilt, settle or resign instead of waiting for a hearing. Those who sit it out and wait for their hearings will be most likely returned to their classrooms and found not guilty.
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INFORMATION SEEKER...(BETTER THAN IGNORANCE!)
8.machvelianNew YorkDecember 8th, 201012:49 amI want the propaganda against teachers to end. What are the statistics of "guilty" verdicts against teachers accused of crimes...NYT had access to this information, yet chose not to publish it? From inside the system, I've been told most are falsely accused, yet this article spends most of the time profiling people in a display of typical lazy journalism (see the past 20 articles about Cathy Black).
Simply, I would like a true profile piece on this arbitration process and the results...enough of the tales told by a select few.
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SARCASM...(BETTER THAN ANGER!)12.PeterQueensDecember 8th, 201012:49 amThis is what an underfunded education system looks like - inefficient. The alternative is allowing principals to fire teachers for basically no good reason, something in which I'm sure the incoming chancellor sees no problem.Oh, more cuts coming? Great.
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SOMEONE WHO KNOWS...(COULDN'T HAVE SAID IT BETTER MYSELF...)16.HIGHLIGHT (what's this?) middlesex nj New Brunswick, NjDecember 8th, 20107:56 amWhat's nauseating is people assuming that those accused of wrongdoing are guilty before being proven so. It is not the fault of the teachers that the process takes so long. It is not the fault of the teachers that no one can bother to find meaningful tasks for salaried professionals. If the teachers are eventually found guilty of wrong doing, then of course they should be let go. Until that happens, the trash talk is pointless right wing blathering and hatemongering.9(A LITTLE EXTREME...) If the administration still can't find meaningful work, the teachers should be suspended with pay put into escrow until the case is decided. (RIGHT TO THE POINT...)Meanwhile, how about trying to get rid of the incompetent administrators and politicians who can't fix or even put band-aids on a system that his been broken for ages.
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67.FidgetyTeachNYDecember 8th, 201012:00 pmIn response to Juliet, Comment #17...Juliet states that, "Teachers who were placed in "Rubber Rooms" because of some kind of criminal behavior should not receive one penny from anyone.They abused their position and should be punished.People such as Ms. Combier who defend these criminals should not profit from this situation but should be reprimanded also!"

It is ignorant to assume that all teachers are 'guilty before proven innocent". The last time that I looked around we all lived under the constitution which entitles every US Citizen to a fair and timely trial where they are considered Innocent until Proven Guilty. I truly hope that you are never in a position where you are accused of an alledged crime and found guilty by a jury of peers such as yourself. Many of the teachers have been falsely accused of fabricated crimes and targeted by their principals because of their age, salary step or a simple disagreement with their administration. This is one way in which the newbie principal attempts to replace high paid tenured teachers with new inexperienced teachers that are paid one third of what an experienced teacher earns.(newbie principals following Chancellor's orders) Instead of being angry and ignorant, you might want to try becoming more informed about the process. It is easy to pass judgement with blind eyes. Betsy Combier has spent the last 7 years sitting in on 3020a hearings, visiting the Rubber Rooms and advocating for teachers who have been bullied by the DOE. I would respect your opinion if it were based on fact, however you haven't a clue as to what is really going on.
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Nothing but the Truth

Applause to Sharon Otterman of the New York Times for writing a candid and unbiased, description of reality in the illusory World of the DOE and the Reassigned teachers. After the signing of the flimsy Rubber Room agreement between Mike Mulgrew and Mayor Bloomberg, the public has been mislead into believing that the Rubber Rooms have been closed and that all cases are being expedited as briskly as possible. The newspapers have done nothing but scapegoat and blame teachers for the DOE's failures. Ms. Otterman accurately quoted the telephone conversation that I had with her while travelling home from 65 Court Street in Brooklyn. Unlike the reporters that I've spoken to in the past, Ms. Otterman asked questions without trying to paint a negative picture of the Reassigned teachers. For now, Ms. Otterman has restored my faith in the press and receives a rare rubber stamp for reporting the truth. To be continued...


New York Teachers Still in Idle Limbo
By SHARON OTTERMAN
Published: December 7, 2010

For her first assignment of the school year, Verona Gill, a $100,000-a-year special education teacher whom the city is trying to fire, sat around education offices in Lower Manhattan for two weeks, waiting to be told what to do.
For her second assignment, she was sent to a district office in the Bronx and told to hand out language exams to anyone who came to pick them up. Few did.
Now, Ms. Gill reports to a cubicle in Downtown Brooklyn with a broken computer and waits for it to be fixed. Periodically, her supervisor comes by to tell her she is still working on the problem. It has been this way since Oct. 8.
“I have no projects to do, so I sit there until 2:50 p.m. — that’s six hours and 50 minutes,” the official length of the teacher workday, she said. “And then I swipe out.”
When Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg closed the notorious reassignment centers known as rubber rooms this year, he and the city’s teachers’ union announced triumphantly that one of the most obvious sources of waste in the school system — $30 million a year in salaries being paid to educators caught up in the glacial legal process required to fire them — was no more.
No longer would hundreds of teachers accused of wrongdoing or incompetence, like Ms. Gill, clock in and out of trailers or windowless rooms for years, doing nothing more than snoozing or reading newspapers, griping or teaching one another tai chi. Instead, their cases would be sped up, and in the meantime they would be put to work.
While hundreds of teachers have had their cases resolved, for many of those still waiting, the definition of “work” has turned out to be a loose one. Some are now doing basic tasks, like light filing, paper-clipping, tracking down student information on a computer or using 25-foot tape measures to determine the dimensions of entire school buildings. Others sit without work in unadorned cubicles or at out-of-the-way conference tables.
“They told me to sit in a little chair in a corner and never get up and walk around,” said Hal Lanse, a $100,000-a-year teacher from Queens who had been accused of sexual harassment. He was assigned to an administrative office on Fordham Road in the Bronx in September as part of a deal that led the city to drop the charges against him.
One day he plopped down on a couch in the hallway and began reading a novel, he said. Eventually, he dozed off. Then he was asked to “paper-clip some papers” and refused: he was charged with insubordination. He is now collecting his full salary at home in Queens, with plans to retire in January; the city is trying to fire him for insubordination before then, which would reduce his pension.
“There are indeed still rubber rooms,” he said. “They just don’t call them that.”
While the teachers are supposed to be given actual work, the Department of Education still considers them unsuitable for classrooms while their cases are pending. So it has assigned them to various offices, like those overseeing facilities and food, and the external affairs office at Tweed Courthouse, the department’s headquarters.
Barbara Morgan, a schools spokeswoman, said Friday that the teachers were being as productive as possible given the temporary nature of their administrative assignments. She provided a list of tasks that some were performing, which included processing invoices, arranging schedules, answering phones and scanning documents.
Deborah Byron, 45, was one of about 60 teachers told to report to the offices of the School Construction Authority in Long Island City, Queens. On their first day, they were told they would be responsible for “collecting data,” and someone began handing out folders with lists of school names and 25-foot retractable tape measures.
The teachers fanned out to different schools to measure every classroom, auditorium, athletic field and parking lot, for precisely the contractually mandated six hours and 50 minutes each school day. They frequently interrupted classes to do their work. Sometimes custodians said, “Hey, we already have this, let us print it out for you,” and offered blueprints, Ms. Byron said. In those cases, she would do spot checks.
While other reassigned teachers said they felt ostracized and uncomfortable among their peers, hearing whispers about their “rubber room status,” Ms. Byron said she tried to look as official as possible, never revealing that she had been reassigned and was facing suspension for insubordination, she said.
“I had strappy sandals on, and a clipboard and a pen, and an old Board of Education ID,” she said. “Some of the younger teachers were almost envious — they came up and said, how did you get this job? Because they were struggling with 20-something kids and I’m here walking around.”
In October, Ms. Byron was reassigned to a truancy center in a church basement in Far Rockaway, Queens. When the police brought in truants, she looked up their records on her personal laptop and tracked down their parents’ and school phone numbers. Then she tried to counsel the students. “I talk to them and ask them why they didn’t go to school,” she said at the time.
Reassigned teachers work at a dozen truancy offices around the city, but not all of them may be as effective. Ms. Byron said the other teacher she worked with did not bring her own computer and still could not access the system by mid-November. (Ms. Byron was recently sent home, her case concluding with an eight-month unpaid suspension.)
Despite the difficulties of finding the teachers actual work, cases are moving much faster than before the April agreement, when lawyers for both sides, arbitrators and defendants all played a role in dragging them out, sometimes for years. In mid-November, there were 236 teachers and administrators still in reassignment, down from 770 when the deal to close the rubber rooms was signed.
Ms. Morgan, the city spokeswoman, said the city was on track to close all the cases that had existed before April by the end of the year, except for those involving arrests or special investigation. The city did not provide information on how many teachers were fired, suspended or fined, and how many returned to teaching, saying that information would be available in January.
Last month, 16 accused teachers were supposed to return to the classroom when officials missed a new 60-day deadline to file formal charges against them. But some got their charges as soon as the following day, and most still have “rubber room duties” in schools, said Betsy Combier, a former union employee who now counsels reassigned teachers independently.
While several former rubber room teachers said they much preferred their new, comfortable assignments, describing luxuries like office-cleaning services and microwave ovens, others said they missed the camaraderie of the rubber room. All said they would rather be back teaching students.
“The people from my rubber room are all here,” said a preschool teacher who blogs under the pseudonym FidgetyTeach and has been assigned to administrative offices in Downtown Brooklyn, “and we are all very distressed.” She declined to be identified by name because her case was still before an arbitrator.
She was reassigned three years ago after she was accused of leaving a child unattended. She said that while the people in her new office were pleasant enough, she had had nothing to do since the first week.
“Some people are doing filing, but they are not even wanting to do it,” she said of her fellow reassigned teachers. “It’s menial work. Most people are not doing anything; they are just sitting there. This is punishment, whether the city wants to see it that way or not.”
Juliet Linderman contributed reporting.
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...If You Knew Betsy...

They say that there is an exception to every rule- and when it comes to the Useless UFT, that exception comes in the form of a beautiful, green eyed blonde, an unconventional, bright and passionate woman named Betsy Combier.

The first time that I met Ms.Combier was almost three years ago. She walked into our Rubber Room wearing an embroidered suede jacket and up to the knee high heeled boots. Unlike most of the women who work for the UFT, Betsy exuded a refreshing warmth and feminine quality. In a sweet and soft voice, Betsy introduced herself as someone who would be coming once a week to assist reassigned teachers with any problems or questions they may have. She greeted some of the teachers that she already knew and then proceeded to personally introduce herself to each and every new face. As she approached where I was sitting, one of the teachers quickly whispered,"Don't trust her." "Why?", I asked. That teacher put her head down as Ms. Combier greeted me. Although her warmth and openness was indeed refreshing, I cautiously welcomed her into my space. She handed me her card and told me to call her anytime I needed to talk. Soon after meeting her, I learned that Betsy had several blogs and was involved in advocating for the rights of students, parents and teachers. Having been a PTA president and raising four daughters in the Public school system, Betsy knew the system from many angles. She attended PEP meetings where she spoke out for the rights of the RR teachers, questioned the inflated power of the principals, the agenda, our Mayor and the unqualified Chancellor-without-a-contract.

The following week, Ms. Combier entered our RR wearing a flouncy skirt and carrying a fringed handbag. I could hear her in the hallway making small talk with the horrible Mr. Warden before entering the RR as scheduled. Two of the teachers immediately grabbed her ear, taking her to the private "staircase" in the hallway to talk.
Besides providing answers, listening to the teachers and following up on all inquiries, the difference between Betsy Combier and the rest of the UFT Reps was that Betsy came with no agenda. Having been hired only part time by Randi Weingarten to support the reassigned teachers in the RR, Betsy gave her support in the only way that she knew how...FULL time. Here is a woman who does not drive or ride the subway, but somehow managed to spend everyday, yes, EVERYDAY of the week visiting a different RR facility throughout the city or talking with distraught members of the TRCs. On a salary that barely covered her expenses, Ms. Combier never missed an opportunity to talk to, advise, assist and console hundreds of reassigned teachers over a seven year period. Unlike the other unapproachable, angry and aloof Useless UFT Reps (they know who they are) who shamelessly looked at their watches, worried about the running meter, came empty handed and stayed only long enough to say that they 'showed up', Betsy genuinely wanted to be there. Betsy sat amongst the teachers, never looking at the time, never making excuses. If for some unavoidable reason, she'd be late, Betsy would call one of us on our personal cell phones to let us know. If that wasn't enough, Reassigned teachers called Betsy early in the morning and all hours of the night when sleeping seemed like an impossible feat. Betsy knew the teachers. She knew their pain and hurt. She felt their frustration. She guided and empowered them to help themselves. Singlehandedly, Ms. Combier made up for the shortcomings and absence of all of the UFT reps that I have ever met. Those who allowed themselves to know her, loved her and still do. Those who doubted her sincerity were obviously afraid of her unconventional warmth and wisdom; do you blame them after the way they the UFT treats them?? However, those who didn't know her, missed out on her natural gift for being a true PEOPLE advocate and great friend.

One would think that by the way I have described Mrs. Combier, the UFT would recognize and value her for the rare GEM that she is.
Why then is Ms. Combier no longer employed by the UFT? Shockingly, the only thank you that Ms. Combier received for seven years of dedicated service to the UFT was a Pink slip on July 7, 2010. She was told by UFT Co-Staff Director Ellie Engler that the UFT no longer needed her service since the Rubber Rooms were to be closed. Ellie Engler is the very same person who did everything in her power to make Betsy's life at the UFT as difficult and uncomfortable as possible.

In 2009, Ms. Engler told Betsy to pack up her office at 52 Broadway because it was needed by the UFT for someone else. She promised to provide her with boxes and an alternative office location by the next day. At 6PM on the following day, there were still no boxes and nowhere to move them to. She was told to contact David Hickey, but received no response to her messages. After filling up several black trash bags with her papers and files, Betsy removed most of her things with the help of a teacher friend. After several months of working without an office, the Queens TRC liason asked Leroy Barr for an explanation. Several UFT members wanted to meet with Betsy, but without an office, this was impossible. After walking around the 16th floor, Mr. Barr located the telephone that had Betsy's number hooked up to a remote desk somewhere on the other side of the building. This, he told her, would be her new "office". Betsy's only request was that her files from her old office be safely moved to her new location. However, most of the files from her old office were never found.
The harassment continued after the Christmas break when Betsy returned to find that her cubicle had been moved by Ellie Engler and that her computer and telephone had disappeared. After scavenging for her things, Betsy's telephone was eventually found on the 11th floor.

After Betsy made several requests to Ms. Engler for her newly printed UFT business cards, Ms. Engler asked that Betsy take down the posts on her blog, NYC Rubber Room Reporter that contained Theresa Europe's name. (Theresa Europe is in charge of the DOE attorneys in The "Gotcha Squad") Betsy refused Ms. Engler's request and in turn, never received her cards. In addition, Adam Ross, the Attorney for Mike Mulgrew, told Betsy that she is to refrain from filing any FOIL (Freedom of Information requests) of anyone who is employed by the NYCDOE. Because Ms. Combier refused to heed these requests, she was fired. (Yet in her agreement it says she is hired to help any member in the TRC or elsewhere who needs help, and continue to write and advocate for people she assisted before she worked for the UFT) Ms. Combier may have been fired by the UFT, but she has not stopped working on behalf of the UFT's teachers who are still very much in need of her valuable knowledge and assistance.

Now, Betsy is pursuing her advocacy outside of the UFT from her office at home. Her email is betsy.combier@gmail.com. I know she will be there for you, me, and anyone who needs help. Shame on the UFT for firing one of our most dedicated and productive representatives.
Are you reading this, Mr. Mulgrew, Ms. Engler and Mr. Hickey?

September 7, 2010- The Rubber Room Charade Continues...

It has been 71 days since the NYC Department of Education and the UFT Leader Mike Mulgrew proudly announced their shocking closed door agreement putting an end to the NYC Rubber Rooms. Just a day later, the Rubber Room Movie premiered, exposing the horrific denial of due process that accused teachers must endure when reassigned to the Guantanamo Bay of the DOE.
Having been there myself, I can say from experience that from the time that a teacher is sent to the reassignment center having been accused of some wrongdoing or having been targeted by a jealous or vindictive principal, they are caught in a web of uncertainty, fear and doubt. In many instances, teachers do not even have a clue as to why they were removed from their schools. Throughout the lengthy dehumanization process of spending time in the Rubber Room, they are further humiliated and abandoned by the very same Union that collects their dues and is supposed to protect them. As a result, the reassigned teacher slowly spirals downward into a whirlwind of answered questions, confusion, grief, depression, denial, shame, anger and doubt. Many retreat, repress or totally withdraw. Others attempt to take positive action or act out in a myriad of unhealthy ways. Overall the reassigned teacher quickly learns that the saying, "God helps those who help themselves", does not apply to the Rubber Rooms. Letters to the DOE go unanswered, complaints to the UFT fall on deaf ears, stress is high, teachers get sick, depressed and even suicidal. The only support or comfort that a reassigned teacher may receive might come from another 'reassignee' who knows very well what the teacher is experiencing.
As anyone who works for the DOE knows very well, their so called 'reorganizations' always leads to more disorganization.
So...Here it is, the night before the first day of the 2010 school year and I still haven't received any word as to where I am supposed to report tomorrow. Having spent two whole years in the Rubber Room and seventy days on summer vacation, the DOE still can't get their act together.

Newsweek Gets It Right- In Defense of Public School Teachers

In Defense of Teachers
What charter schools really tell us about education reform
Sean Gallup / Getty Images

Are teachers really different in charter schools?

I think it’s fair to say that most people know we’re in the midst of an educational emergency. Just this week, Secretary of Education Arne Duncan told CNN, “There isn’t one urban school district in the country—Chicago, L.A., New York, D.C., Philly, Baltimore—there’s not one urban system yet where the dropout rate is low enough and the graduation rate is high enough.” And for those people who work in the school system, no issue has come to represent the struggle to save public education more than the fight over charter schools. For the sake of clarity, let me just note that a charter school is one which uses public funds to run a school that is managed privately, thus giving them the freedom to experiment as well as hire nonunion teachers. Charters such as the Harlem Children’s Zone HCZ in New York have longer school days (and a longer school year) with kids often required to come in Saturdays to work with tutors. The most successful charter schools (and they are not all the same in either quality or mission) have produced stunning results. At the Harlem Success Academy, 100 percent of third graders passed their state math exam and 95 percent passed the state English exam.

I am thrilled by these test results and I am very glad that the educational needs of poor urban students are finally being addressed in a serious way. But lately I’ve grown increasingly cynical about the assertions of charter-school advocates that the most pressing problem facing our public education system is the plethora of lazy, incompetent teachers who cannot be fired under any circumstances. As Steve Brill wrote for The New York Times Magazine last week: “Indeed, the core of the reformers’ argument, and the essence of the Obama approach to the Race to the Top, is that a slew of research over the last decade has discovered that what makes the most difference is the quality of the teachers and the principals who supervise them.” Maybe it’s because I was a teacher’s pet growing up, or because of my undying love for school supplies, but a lot of this sounds to me more like a full court press to break the admittedly powerful teachers’ unions than simply an effort to improve public schooling.

Full disclosure: my husband is a public-school teacher in a middle school in one of Brooklyn’s toughest neighborhoods. But we try not to discuss education reform for the sake of our marriage. Personally, I’m a little confused about the all-out push for charter schools by billionaires such as Bill Gates and Bruce Kovner. On the one hand, I support charters for their ability to prove there are solutions to some of the huge and seemingly intractable issues facing our country’s education system. I’m very grateful that schools like HCZ have proven that the achievement gap between urban students and their suburban counterparts can be closed. But I do not support using their existence to demonize teachers. For the vast majority of public-school teachers, so much of their job is out of their control that asking them to be held accountable for their students’ performance is tantamount to blaming car salesmen for Toyota’s accelerator problems. Poverty is still a huge barrier to learning, for instance. Just a quick look at some of the other differences between charters and their public-school brethren should be enough to prove that the path to an improved educational system is not all about firing teachers.

1. Charter schools, by their nature, have students whose parents are motivated and involved in their education. On the off chance that charter-school parents are not motivated to help their children succeed, they are often given support and help by the charter school itself. Indeed, New York Magazine revealed that parents of kids at the Harlem Success Academies “must sign the network’s ‘contract,’ a promise to get children to class on time and in blue-and-orange uniform, guarantee homework, and attend all family events.” The same cannot be said of public schools, which are required to take any child who resides in their district and do not have the resources or mandate to teach parents as well. But rather than push to raise the cap on charter schools, why not copy and fund some of their parental-support programs for existing public schools?

2. Charter schools often receive the same amount of public funding per student as public schools, and also benefit from their ability to raise and use charitable donations. Public schools receive their budgets from their local departments of education and have no ability to receive more. In fact, they’re prey to budget and service cuts and layoffs—New York City expects to lay off 4,400 public school teachers this year but no charters will be affected.

3. Charter schools have many more resources than the public schools they’re trying to replace. Surely, classroom teachers would have more opportunity to teach and teach well if they had enough books and study materials for all their kids. Donors Choose, a charitable organization where teachers submit proposals for funding by ordinary folks like you and me, estimates that the average public school teacher spends more than $500 of his or her own money on supplies for their students, or more than $1.3 billion dollars nationally. As Charles Best, founder of Donors Choose and a teaching veteran, told me, “We were all spending our own money on basic stuff—copy paper and pencils. We had a tough time innovating and none of our ideas would go past the planning stage. Now, at any one time, there are 15,000 to 30,000 live classroom requests on our site. This is a testament to the character and spirit of teachers.”

4. Charter schools are not required to accept special-needs children or children with learning disabilities. Diane Ravitch, author of “The Death and Life of the Great American School System,” wrote in The Wall Street Journal that “The students who are hardest to educate are left to regular public schools, which makes comparisons between the two sectors unfair. The higher graduation rate posted by charters often reflects the fact that they are able to “counsel out” the lowest performing students … This is not a model for public education, which must educate all children.”

5. When discussing charter schools, advocates often mention the difficulty in firing public-school teachers. In that same Times Magazine article, Brill notes that “Once they’ve been teaching for three years and judged satisfactory in a process that invariably judges all but a few of them satisfactory, they are ensured lifetime tenure.” But teachers are not judged by themselves, but by their principals and other administrative staff. So isn’t there a way for school systems to strengthen their professional development programs or put forth proposals for more effective teacher observation, mentoring systems or remedial teacher training, if necessary?

It is simply not true that teacher quality is the sole difference between charter schools and public ones. As I’ve written in the past about the Harlem Children’s Zone, but which also applies to many other charter schools, “what the HCZ does is first recognize that the amelioration of poverty does not begin and end with an excellent education, but also requires a full belly, parental education, safety, advocacy, and the expectation that every student will succeed.” So until charter-school advocates can show me how teachers and teachers alone can be held responsible for all the learning that charter schools provide, I just can’t believe that holding only teachers accountable—and not the school systems they work for—is the fair or even the best way to improve public education.

Foodie

Friday morning...and just about that time when everyone is settled in their seats, Foodie decides that he is hungry. When he gets up from the corner he has barricaded himself in, everyone else must get up too. In order for him to pass, tables and chairs must be moved. Like a dream-scene in a movie, Foodie slowly makes his way to the refrigerator. He shuffles his feet and you can hear the sound of his nylon pants shifting as he walks. It has been suggested that Foodie sit somewhere else. Somewhere less restricting; where he won't disrupt the order of things. It is mentioned that perhaps he should sit right next to the refrigerator. As he heats up his pre-breakfast meal, Foodie looks at no one. He just stares into space. He methodically unwraps the three bags that protect his plastic utensils. There is an eerie blankness about him. While conversations are going on closely around him, he says nothing. He sluggishly makes his way back to his seat and once again, it is musical chairs.
Five minutes later, Foodie is up again to pace the room. Every once in a while he spontaneously jerks his knees forward and waves his arms, startling anyone in close proximity. Recently, he has made eye contact with one of the women and spontaneously lifted his arms, snapped his fingers in the air and proceeded to gyrate his hips in a swiveling motion. 'Exercise', he calls it, but with a heavy lisp which sounds more like, 'ex-ther-thise' I call it just plain, "creepy".
Foodie has been in our reassignment center for only 2 months since he left the one in Staten Island. When teachers transfer over here, there is usually a good reason and most often, it is not of their own choosing. Everyone knows that this isn't the most favorable of Reassignment 'destinations'. I can safely say that this guy didn't have many fans in Staten Island.
Foodie eats his pre- breakfast meal and then leans back to take a nap. Fifteen minutes later, breakfast. Thirty minutes later, brunch. After that, he leaves the room and an hour later he returns with a full bag of groceries, I mean uh.. lunch. Back and forth like an expectant father, Foodie consumes meal after meal... Foodie leaves the room and roams the first floor of the building. He is told by the warden that he cannot 'roam the hallways'. Foodie retreats into the men's room for a good half an hour. It is reported that he just stands in there,(just staring and standing!)- creeping everyone out while they do their business and leave.

Teachers reduced to "Trailer Trash"

The credit for this goes to my fellow blogger at 'South Bronx School' who continues to shed light on the latest underhanded tactics of the DOE on reassigned teachers. How much lower can Klein go than this?

Principal Sean Keaton Sited...

Wearing sunglasses, a suit,tie and looking rather frail, Principal Sean Keaton was sighted today pacing the perimeter of the District 13 office building at 355 Park Place. His markedly thin and lanky appearance resembled that of a young high school boy, however his demeanor was aloof and disassociated with the goings on around him. It is safe to say that he wanted to remain anonymous, but with front page coverage, that was not happening. The District 13 office building is also the home for one the Department of Education's famous teacher reassignment centers. The big question is, will he be given the "principal red carpet treatment" or will he be joining the DOE's reassigned employees in the rubber room for his assault on chapter leader, Robert Segarra?

Posted by ForeverBrooklyn on May 22, 2009 11:20 AM in response to the Daily News Article published on May 21, 2009:
My daughter is a current student of Mr.Segarra...We love him. He is one of the best things to ever happen to that school. Principle Keaton is one of the most unapproachable, self centered people I have ever met. Although I understand his concern in getting the school grades up..I appreciate that..He has no regard for the parents or teachers..I wasn't too surprised to see that Keaton used street tactics to resolve this issue..I get that from him. He is more concerned about scores(Which I understand BUT), than the kids throwing food at each other in the mornings, the boys beating up on the girls, the kids who curse, scream and tell the few parents that make themselves present "your not my mother, you can't tell me what to do". Safety and discipline is truly lacking..The chaos in the mornings before the kids get to class makes you want to home school your child..The students don't reflect the community..Most of the "new" parents are moving to areas get their kids into PS 11 or Park Slope.
Posted by ForeverBrooklyn on May 22, 2009 11:20 AM in response to the Daily News Article published on May 21, 2009.

P.S. We reserve a special place for Principals in the Rubber Room...
School Principal Busted for Beating Teacher at Corporal Punishment Hearing

It's Really Happening...

In my last post, I never got to the part where I describe what's actually 'happening' to the prevailing reassigned teachers in the Rubber Room. Since I've got the insider's view, it is always a challenge not to say anything that may incriminate myself or others and in cases like this- being so careful, totally missing the point altogether.

Today was not much different than any other day. Teachers arrive sporadically in the morning, many arriving much earlier than they would for their regularly appointed/former classroom assignments. No, their eagerness to be here is not what gets them to arrive earlier, but they subscribe to the theory that, "The early birds gets to go home early". The concept is definitely becoming popular. Since this is not an instructional sight and there are no children here, there is no concern about covering classes and keeping anyone waiting. No one is ever looking or waiting for us, except if you include the Site Supervisor who tries to micro manage and control our every move. Aside from 1:00 lunch, and the requirement of fulfilling an 8 hour workday, there are no other time restrictions except to get out of the building by 4 pm. Getting in early to leave early is all the motivation most of us need!

The latest character to be reassigned to our room has got all of us seeing red, even the Site Supervisor. "Raven" (her name definitely fits her personality) is one nasty, vicious, spiteful and paranoid woman. It's only been two weeks and she's just about lashed out at everyone around her. This woman not only has a big mouth, but she is big all around and requires a lot of space. She has already managed to clear her table to the point where she's got the corner three seats all to herself. Her former table mates are all now squeezing in at other tables just to stay out of her firing line. This is insane when we are dealing with an already tight space. The resentment towards this woman is growing by the minute. The latest stunt she has pulled is snapping pictures of other reassigned teachers with her cell phone in which she vehemently denies. When she is not taking pictures, she is pounding away at her laptop, blasting music through her inoperable earphones, unconsciously humming nervously and stomping back and forth intimidating anyone who crosses her path. Thank goodness this woman has never had any children.

Mr. Supervisor has been making many trips up to the main floor to visit our time cards. What he does is compare his illegally kept documentation with the times we have punched in and out for the work day. Some of the drivers find it so hard to get parking that they must run into the building, punch their cards in and then drive around searching for a space to leave their car. Not having a car himself, Mr. Supervisor is not very apathetic to this task. Mr. Supervisor still believes that he will manage to catch someone stealing 'Dept. of Ed. Time' and be responsible for having their pay docked. He swears that the reassignees have been punching in and out for each other but has no actual evidence of his claims. His new harassment technique is clocking out anyone who has been standing outside of the building for longer that five minutes. He has recruited his one and only willing friend,the custodian(aka Self Appointed Executor) to keep a watch on us and report back to him our every move.
There is a never ending battle between our 'evil' Site Supervisor and the Building Security Guard(s). The conflict is that Evil Supervisor is always trying to tell Security Guard how to do his job. Site Supervisor doesn't feel that Security is being evil enough to us and the two of them are constantly writing each other up!!! The sad part again is, nobody cares! Not the head of Security nor the Rubber Room head. The other sad part is, it's only Monday.

It's Happening...

While the DOE publicly abuses its' classroom teachers with disrespect, blame, oppressive working conditions, overcrowded classrooms, unnecessary paperwork, constant threats of 'Letter in File', U Ratings, random observations and zero support, it is nothing compared to the secret insanity of what goes on in the Rubber Room.

Twenty five of the approximately 1,100 Department of Education's reassigned teachers report daily to a tiny basement in an obscure location as punishment for alleged and unproven reports of wrongdoing. There was a time when teachers were removed from their school only if they seemed to pose a threat to the well being of their students. One might have heard of a burnt out teacher or of one whom after years of excellence overstepped his bounds. There was maybe one teacher every two years in my district who's time had come to retire and they just needed a nudge out the door. The teacher would spend the next few weeks or months reporting to the district office where they'd help out until the superintendent could figure out what to do with them. By the next school year, these teachers would retire, take a long sabbatical, transfer schools or return to their classrooms.

It is understandable that the DOE would choose to remove a teacher who has been accused of some form of corporal punishment until a competent investigation can be done, but to remove every teacher every time a claim is made is simply ludicrous. Have you noticed that suddenly everyone knows someone who's been sent to the Rubber Room?

If the 'room's' purpose were just to contain teachers who are waiting to work out their cases, then the RR would not be filled with mostly tenured forty somethings and it would not resemble the characteristics of it's nickname, 'Rubber Room'. The location, size and conditions of the room speak for themselves. The RR and its' dreadful conditions are no oversight. It is used to intimidate teachers into silence, detain and isolate tenured teachers/UFT members from their schools, colleagues and possible contact with witnesses. This isolation disables the accused teacher from seeking support from their colleagues, contacting witnesses and building a strong defense.

After months. which turn into years, the cramped basement with tiny unreachable windows and cement bare walls slowly seduces its' daily occupants into a sluggish, dull, state of dementia. The unproductive monotony of staring, sleeping, eating and breathing can sadly reduce one's mental state to mush. While some teachers can find temporary solace in listening to music, reading, watching DVDs, playing cards, surfing the Internet, knitting, drawing and sewing, others are sucked into the porous cinder block walls of nothingness.

Teachers are never the same as they go through a myriad of emotions while navigating through the DOE's maze of injustice. It is a never ending, drawn out process where rules do not apply. While the DOE is a stickler in upholding deadlines and time lines for teacher certification, form submittal and testing, they have no problem ignoring the chancellor's rules and regulations to accommodate their plan to ruin a teacher's career. 'Waiting Lists' are rampant in the world of the DOE as they conveniently create 'Waiting Lists' for every deadline that is not met. There are waiting lists for OSI, grievances, expedited arbitration, pre hearings and hearings, etc. While the DOE creates 'Waiting Lists', teachers are kept from receiving their due process. I have seen firsthand how the DOE continues to ignore timelines and deadlines in the reassignment process, further adding to the reign of abuse in the RR's.

Live from New York, "Oh...Nevermind"...

Are you a high school teacher recently arrested in a sweep with a dime bag of marijuana in your pocket while hanging out in front of your assigned school with your students? The DOE says, "That's okay". In just two weeks, you can return to working with your students as if it never even happened. Your record will be spotless just as long as you stay out of trouble for the next 6-8 months.
Or maybe you're an elementary school teacher who got arrested in a domestic dispute with your husband? Let's just say, (for fun, of course) that your husband is a high school principal and that you have two small children who were home at the time of the incident. Perhaps you spent two whole nights in jail after your husband called the police. "That's okay", says the DOE. You too can return to your school in only two short weeks.

What do thes cases have in common? Well for one, they are both "outside' cases, having occurred outside of the school buildiing. The first however, took place on school grounds. "Oh, nevermind", says the DOE. Both cases were primarily handled by the police, not school principals. In both cases arrests were made. Both teachers were required to sit in the rubber room until their cases were heard in the NYC court system. Both were settled so quickly that one would find it impossible to identify the fracture in their absence from their schools. Regardless of their serious nature and where these incidents took place, both teachers were returned to their school and happily resumed their positions (Not ATR Positions) after spending 2 weeks in the rubber room.



Chaz said...

I brought this up in my May 20, 2008 article on DOE's "drugs not hugs" article.
April 13, 2009 7:40 AM



summer said...

I have been reading your blog and I just want to say to you and the other teachers who are "reassigned" and blog: thank you.

You and others are doing a great service by teaching the general public about these rooms and what is going on there.

So, first of all, know this: you are being heard.

And, as a teacher myself, I am sympathetic.

What I have learned in the twelve years since I first became a certified teacher in Florida is that most other teachers will say and do nothing to help you.

They don't because they think they can't. They are too afraid.

And, IMO, it is this fear that is really adversely impacting public education. Because when teachers are afraid, others can and do seize power -- and then engage in wrongful acts to keep power.

But, what you and the other teachers who blog are doing that is right and just and powerful is blogging. People know more because of you and others. Thank you again.

In a way I hate to say this, but try to remember others who have been held captive and written, and remember them.

Remember them because: They inspired. You inspire. Think Anne Frank.

I noticed that one teacher who was blogging was told to take down his blog if he wanted to return to the classroom (actually I think he was an assistant principal). He did, but he kept posted some of his archived material.

I would suggest the same. Do not ever take down all of your blog, even if they demand it. Your blog is helping you. It is helping you teach, even now. It is a record of their wrongful abuse of power.

It is important that you blog.

Thank you again. You are doing a great job of teaching, right now. Remember that. :)
May 1, 2009 8:12 PM


Blogger Floraine Kay said...

Yeah, I remember knowing a few people, one caught with drugs while driving, who got sent back, "No problem".

The system is insane. Like any insane system it stays inconsistent in order to build fear.

You will get out. It will get better. Don't try to make sense of it and never try to make sense of anything DOE again. Trying to stay alive is hard enough.

May 3, 2009 10:05 PM


Blogger A Teacher In The Bronx said...

Don't give up. The squeaky wheel gets oiled every single time. Get on a mountain top and don't stop until you get what you want!!

Email me please.

May 5, 2009 8:03 PM

Memorandum: March 16, 2009

MEMORANDUM
To: All Staff
From: Mr. Martin, APA/Supervisor
Re: The ISC-355 Park Place-Staff Reassignment Room Protocol

Please be advised that the staff assigned to the ISC Reassignment Room(B-1)are not permitted for any reason to visit offices within the building as well as having non UFT representatives visit the reassignment room.

Thank you for your cooperation in this matter.
If I can be of further assistance, please feel free to contact me at the above DOE- email address or ext. 288.

Cc: Mr. Bernard Palmer
Sgt. Meredith
Custodian

Apparently, one of the reassigned teachers was caught conversing with a District 13 employee upstairs from the reassignment center. Obviously when people see each other daily, they will naturally become familiar with each other and often become friends. This makes Mr. Martin very mad. You see, Mr. Martin has only one friend in the building and that is the custodian who sits with Mr. Martin all day rather than do his job. Mr. Martin does not want the reassigned teachers making any contact with the other employees in the building. Mr. Martin's memo has apparently ticked off many of the District 13 employees who would rather converse with the wall than have any contact with him. Note the Cc: at the bottom of the Memo. He's even got the custodian in on his control game.




Blogger Chaz said...

A real sleazeball.

March 30, 2009 2:54 PM

Click here: Look Who's Minding the Rubber Room...

Click the title above or copy and paste this link into your browser:
http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/brooklyn/2009/02/08/2009-02-08_exprincipal_teacher_in_si_detention_cent.html


Blogger Long Island Educator said...

Fidgety
I am going thru a 3020a on Long Island. It has been 18 months and counting. I am in a one-person rubber room. I have kept my sense of humor by reading blogs like yours and PO teacher. Yesterday I started my own blog...still working out the bugs but I think you might enjoy it. I am keeping it dry because I tend to be sarcastic and there is much to be sarcastic about.

February 10, 2009 4:46 PM

Designed to Depress

Tiny room, 2 stories down below ground level. Bare concrete walls. 3 narrow unreachable windows, 25 feet above. Empty water cooler and no payphone. No visitors allowed. I am a tenured NYC school teacher with allegations made against me by a brand-spanking new Leadership Academy Principal. This is where I must report 5 days a week, 7 hours a day and you say things could be worse?

The UFT-Always Changing Their Tune

When you are in your school, your UFT rep will give you 101 reasons why you need to attend meetings & maintain a united front to your principal. They will lead you to believe that as a dues paying member of the UFT, you are protected. Your job is secure. You are untouchable. Should you have any questions, the Union will answer them for you, guide you, advise you. You show your loyalty by showing up early for meetings. You help set up the bagels and even volunteer to make the coffee. The UFT rep will assure you that knowledge is power. Stay informed. Know the regulations. Read the contract. All that lip service is nice, until the unimaginable happens...
One thing the Union Reps never talk about is what can happen if you are accused of corporal punishment, neglect of duty, insubordination, whistle blowing or incompetence. The won't tell you how they are powerless in defending and supporting their members. They never talk about who is being targeted or bullied by the administration in your own school. They don't tell you that one day you are a teacher and the next you can be sent to the Rubber Room. They never talk about what is happening to teachers just like yourself, teachers in the NYC DOE throughout the city, every day.
Some union reps know all too well what can happen to an accused teacher. Inexcusably, there are many union reps who really don't. Others know, they just never came close enough to experience it firsthand. This new breed of principal will fix that in no time. (Many of the District reps are retired Tier 1 teachers who have no idea what it's like to work in a climate of abuse and intimidation.) Why the lack of information? Why the secrecy? Does it matter to you that your chapter leader may be so naive or ignorant about the process? It should. Especially when you are the teacher being accused and/or targeted. When you are the teacher who has false allegations made against you. When you are the teacher who has been removed from your school and deemed ineligible to teach. When you are the one who is humiliated, embarrassed, shamed and shunned by your colleagues. When you are the one who has to sit idly in the rubber room day after day with no end in sight. Don't you think that it is time we woke up and demanded answers?
The UFT is guilty of of doing nothing while our colleagues are brought up on bogus charges. They are guilty of barely objecting to the inhumane conditions at the reassignment centers. They stand by idly by while teachers are herded like cattle and treated like common criminals. By saying and doing nothing, our Union reps are doing us the greatest injustice of all. .
Once you are removed from your school and thrown into the land of, "Anything Goes", who do you turn to? There is no UFT meeting or Graduate course that could ever prepare you for what comes next. The UFT never talks about the City's Best Kept Secret, the Rubber Rooms.


Blogger Chaz said...

You hit it on the head. The UFT leaders really don't care about the reassigned teachers.

The UFT just wants those teachers to slowly die away and leave their careers behind.

January 10, 2009 11:52 AM

Teacher Abuse Stories-ANOTHER WHISTLE-BLOWER SENT TO RUBBER ROOM (click here)

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

...there but for the grace of God go I."

As three of my fellow rubber-roommates were making their way out of the building for lunch, one of them had the 'audacity' to innocently chuckle at the other's joke. There was an exchange of silliness and the three broke into laughter in the stairwell. By the time that they reached the front desk, the eyes of a male and female office worker were staring them down. Realizing that they had been heard, the 3 reassigned teachers quietly headed toward the exit smiling.
As the door had just about closed, the female office worker turned to the male and said, "They forget why they're here." Hearing this stopped the three teachers in their tracks. "Excuse me?", asked Teacher 1. I couldn't help overhearing. Since you seem to know so much about WHY WE ARE HERE and how we should behave, perhaps you can tell us WHY WE'RE HERE... After spending the last 4 months away from my classroom in a crowded basement, I still haven't been given a valid reason." Shocked by the teacher's response, the woman who was so quick to pass judgement just shook her head and turned her back toward the teachers. The man uncomfortably averted his eyes to the ground.


Blogger Chaz said...

good for them. Keep fighting back.

December 10, 2008 3:39 PM

More Mayoral Control..."It's Good to be King"

Found this article on 'Ed in the Apple' -check it out.

and this...Backers of Mayoral Control See a Tough Education Fight
By ELIZABETH GREEN, Staff Reporter of the Sun |