New York has an interesting mess on its hands. The teacher unions exude so much power that teachers accused of misconduct not only receive due process in the form of a disciplinary hearings but their full salary with benefits until the matter is resolved. Granted, most people wisely believe that the educators should receive a fair adjudication with the chance to fight the complaint against them. Teacher unions do afford their members protection against termination without viable cause or the wrath of vengeful administrator.
However, New York's process is strange to say the least. The teachers cannot return to the classroom until the matter is resolved. The city that never sleeps (or at least the Bloomberg administration) requires the accused educators to spend their working days in holding cells or "rubber rooms" as the teachers refer to them. They are not required to perform any work on behalf of the school district yet still receive full compensation.
While that sounds crazy, the wheels of justice crank so slowly in New York that many teachers enjoy the cozy confines of the rubber room for six years! Therefore, New York taxpayers are still paying the salary of teachers who are not equipped to be in the professions as well as those wrongly accused teachers who are rotting away while they should be in the classroom helping children.
Perhaps I should be railing against administrative incompetence and red tape!!
No comments:
Post a Comment