Chancellor Joel Klein claims victory on rubber rooms, goes after seniority to keep best teachers
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2010/04/17/2010-04-17_good_luck_burning_rubber.html#ixzz0lTqC2sLr
Chancellor Joel Klein took a victory lap Friday to celebrate a deal to close the "rubber rooms," but skeptics question whether the city can transform teacher discipline.
Bolstered by the agreement with the teachers union to shutter the notorious reassignment centers, Klein told "Morning Joe" on MSNBC that he hopes to build a similar groundswell to tackle teachers' rights to seniority during layoffs.
"That's what I think happened with the rubber rooms. Now I'd like to deal with this seniority issue," said Klein, who wants a possible 8,500 upcoming layoffs to be based on teacher quality, not seniority.
Some education watchers said it was too soon for Klein to declare victory, since it's unclear if the city will meet its deadline of closing the rubber rooms and eliminating the backlog of accused teachers by year's end.
"It remains to be seen," said Brooklyn College education Prof. David Bloomfield, a former General Counsel for the old Board of Education. "I'm dubious, but at least both sides are attending to the right things."
The agreement ridding the city of the rubber rooms - where accused teachers sit and do nothing while awaiting judgment - focuses on a faster timeline for charging teachers and completing hearings, shortening the process from an average of 18 months to less than six months.
Officials hope to bypass the lengthy hearing process and use mediation to clear the existing backlog of cases - 550 teachers and 90 school employees.
That could be a tall order. Since July 2009, the city has fired just 19 teachers for
Read more: http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/education/2010/04/17/2010-04-17_good_luck_burning_rubber.html#ixzz0lTqC2sLr