After the weekend the beginning of the week is difficult. The pains of being here have momentarily subsided, until later when it returns. Then the adjustment to torment carries on. Staring at these same walls is discomforting. I look forward to some change. I am beginning to understand why some of the folks in here grow restless and wander from room to room. I was speaking with a friend of mine over the weekend who is also a teacher, and we both agreed that a large number of the teachers who are our colleagues are not professional people, and would not be hired in the private or corporate sectors.
Certainly there are lower standards here, hence the existence of such an entity as this reassignment center. I think of my own rule here. Perhaps I too was unprofessional and need to reclaim some dignity and respect for myself from myself. I should raise my own standards beyond what I've been demonstrating. I seem to have become unaware of the change or shift within me. I don't know whether it's because my environment doesn't require it or appreciate it, but it certainly accepts alternatives to higher standards. I can't think of too many other industries of work where people are collected together so haphazardly to work. Perhaps such is the child of necessity; compromise? Teachers are needed, and a compromise is made as to those who are hired.
What is "The Rubber Room?" Simply put, "The Rubber Room" is a room where hundreds and hundreds of New York City schoolteachers presently sit, being paid full salary to do absolutely nothing. But, like so many things, it's not quite so simple... What Happens? Each year in New York City hundreds of schoolteachers are suspended. Their teaching privileges are temporarily, but indefinitely, revoked. Accused of a wide range and varying degrees of misconduct, these teachers are no longer allowed in the classroom. Instead, while awaiting a lengthy adjudication process, they are compelled to report to an off-campus location commonly referred to as The Rubber Room.
Read this newspaper article about it. Look at the trailer for a documentary film about the rubber-room. Look at the film's website. Listen to the radio broadcast on NPR's This American Life.
Read this newspaper article about it. Look at the trailer for a documentary film about the rubber-room. Look at the film's website. Listen to the radio broadcast on NPR's This American Life.
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