Submitted by Leonard Brown, Ph.D., Oct 15, 2007 15:41
Instead of asking David Cantor what teachers in these rubber rooms have been accused of, why don't you go directly to the source. I have been in the "rubber room" for almost a year being falsely accused of touching a student's breast while doing a demonstration with her on Newton's 3rd Law of Motion in front of a class of 34 students.
One of my colleagues is accused of putting on "makeup incorrectly", while another is accused of touching a student on the shoulder in an attempt to calm her while she was taking an exam.
David Pakter, 62, has been in a rubber room for well over a year for buying a plant for his school and rewarding high achieving students with watches he'd made.
One of my colleagues was taken out of the classroom being charged both criminally and by the Department of Education with writing graffiti in bathroom stalls. She was totally vindicated in a court of law. Yet the Department of Education believes that they are above the law and is seeking to terminate her teaching license.
Many teachers are taken out of the classroom without being told while they were taken out in the first place.
Yet according to David Cantor, a Department of Education bureaucrat who has not taught a day in his life, we are all guilty of serious misconduct and crimes.
The only thing most of us are guilty of is of being gullible enough to believe that truth and justice will prevail in a corrupted system. And this is the great tragedy of it all. For when democracy and constitutional rights are denied to educators, students are denied the opportunity for an excellent education and indeed the democracy of this country is greatly endangered.
Note: Comments are screened, and in some cases edited, before posting. We reserve the right to reject anything we find objectionable.
Other reader comments on this article
Comment
By
Date
I am one of those educators that has been sent to the so-called "Rubber Rooms," because I reported a teacher... [MORE]
Elba Rivera
Mar 16, 2008 18:08
I spent many years teaching at Washington Irving High School. As at any big urban school it was always challenging,... [MORE]
bob stoll
Mar 4, 2008 14:52
We do not have rubber rooms in my state...yet. However, as a high school teacher, I can truly say that... [MORE]
Susan Kohi
Mar 3, 2008 21:18
The Department of Education ignores the basic constitutional rights of teachers, creating a new system of law whose major maxim... [MORE]
Roger Rivera
Oct 18, 2007 17:00
After 8 years of teaching with an outstanding rating, my son was recently assigned to a "rubber room." The "charges"... [MORE]
Ray
Mar 8, 2008 08:30
I was an "member? of the rubber room at 501 Courtlandt. I was there because of an external situation I... [MORE]
Mark Kuhn
Oct 17, 2007 08:41
If Ms. Weingarten believes she has a case against the City, then shouldn't the Teachers, Aides, A.P.s, etc. have the... [MORE]
Judith Cohen
Oct 15, 2007 17:45
Judith Cohen is correct. I wish she would write me off-line, as I think a class action lawsuit would be... [MORE]
Bruce J. Ramer
Oct 16, 2007 06:57
Instead of asking David Cantor what teachers in these rubber rooms have been accused of, why don't you go directly...
Leonard Brown, Ph.D.
Oct 15, 2007 15:41
Keeping teachers accused of serious ineptitude or misbehavior in crowded "rubber rooms" much like recreational rooms for the criminally insane... [MORE]
Esther
Oct 15, 2007 14:49
The majority of teachers who are held in the re-assignment centers - nick-named "rubber rooms" - are, by their performance... [MORE]