So the issue of the infamous “rubber rooms” is now getting all this attention, especially now as the United Federation of Teachers prepares to submit a new plan to do something about the conditions faced by the 700 teachers the city has decided it would rather pay to specifically NOT teach kids.
The teachers union is under fire from some of its own members for not providing these non-teaching teachers with legal protections, which seems sort of odd since it it the union’s sheer power at the bargaining table which has seen to it that these 700 teachers continue to receive paychecks so long as they not get within an arm’s length of children.
The union is threatening to go to court over the issue, which seems likely to get even more people talking about either (1) How thoroughly screwed up the NYC public schools are, whether it is management’s fault or labor’s fault or both or whatever, or (2) Why in God’s name NYC puts up with a system where we have to pay out tens of millions of dollars a year in bribes to teachers who don’t teach.
Shouldn’t public education be better than this, or is this the best we can hope for? This might have been one of those issues that Gov. Spitzer and the Legislature could have insisted upon when it recently opened up its wallet in the histroric Campaign for Fiscal Equity lawsuit. They had the leverage to insist that Randi Weingarten and Mayor Bloomberg go in their own rubber room and hammer out a contract witch makes sure that all kids are taught by an excellent teacher and that state dollars for teachers go into the bank accounts of teachers who are getting the job done (or at least ones who are teaching.)
Great work Albany!
NOTE TO Gov. Spitzer: There’s still time to lead on this one. You got it in you?