Submitted by Roger Rivera, Oct 18, 2007 17:00

The Department of Education ignores the basic constitutional rights of teachers, creating a new system of law whose major maxim seems to be "Guilty until proven innocent." They always focus on the fact that there are teachers in the rubber room for reprehensible behavior, a fact no one disagrees with, while sidestepping the fact that many others are kept in this horrendous limbo for matters that in real courtrooms would be dealt with as misdemeanors, or thrown out of court for lack of evidence. But like pitbulls, the Department of Education once it throws a teacher in, they won't let them go. What the hell, they're guilty, and if we don't have definite proof yet, we'll keep the investigation going, for years if necessary, until we do. It's crazy. There's a teacher who's been in one of the rubber rooms for three years, and still doesn't know why. My wife had a hearing, and after evaluating all the evidence the conclusion was that she showed "bad judgment," and she was told a letter would be put into her file. The next day she received a phone call that there was to be a further investigation, and she was to go back into the rubber room. Why? To investigate what? Bad judgment? She hasn't been told. There are just these vague new charges, categories, really, that have been added to her case. It's insane. She's been teaching over 20 years, has an unblemished record, had parents fighting to get their children into her classroom, because they knew she would guide them to the best of their abilities. The rubber rooms, in fact the entire Board of Education system, shouldn't exist in this country. It's a tyrannical system created to demoralize, and intimidate, the innocent, while pursuing the guilty. It should be exposed for the unholy mess it is. Shame on Joel Klein, who once argued constitutional law before the U. S. Supreme Court, for giving his blessing to this thoroughly unconstitutional, thoroughly disgraceful, sytstem.

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