Re-Assignment Rooms May Start in Rochester, NY

April 17, 2008
Teachers on paid suspension may get new tasks
David Andreatta, Staff writer,Democrat and Chronicle
LINK

The City School District will spend almost $9,900 this week to pay teachers accused of misconduct to stay home while they wait — sometimes for months — for investigations of their cases to grind to conclusion.

That practice would end under a plan being hatched by the district to expedite investigations and require suspended teachers to report to a central location during school hours and work for their paychecks.

"I don't believe in putting people in a job location or a position that is not related to their career," Superintendent Jean-Claude Brizard said in a recent interview.

"But to send them home, honestly, to go, in my opinion, watch television, is also not fair to taxpayers."

Currently there are eight district teachers — whose combined annual salaries total $514,078 — being paid to stay away from their schools, according to district data provided to the Democrat and Chronicle.

The data was turned over to the newspaper at the insistence of Brizard after the district had rejected a Freedom of Information Law request on the topic, claiming through a spokesman that it did not keep such records.

News of the plan surfaced this week during a meeting at district headquarters between Brizard and Adam Urbanski, president of the Rochester Teachers Association, that was intended to clarify the positions of both sides on proposed reforms.

The proposed work center is part of a much broader effort by the district to systematically evaluate teachers and administrators and to overhaul the process by which allegations against educators are investigated.

Under a reform strategy outlined by Brizard last month, investigatory duties would be taken from the district's human resources department and given to an appointed investigator in the school safety unit, which is headed by James Sheppard, a former deputy police chief for the city. That investigator has not yet been named.

Brizard said accused teachers assigned to the work center would be given "dignified" assignments while they await the outcome of investigations.

No disciplinary charges have been filed yet against seven of the eight teachers who are being paid to stay home, and one of those seven has been waiting nearly a year for an investigation to conclude, according to the district.

Proceedings have been initiated to fire the eighth teacher and one other who has been suspended without pay, according to the district. Rochester has roughly 3,600 teachers, and once they receive tenure, removing them can involve an elaborate and lengthy process of hearings and appeals.

Neither reassigning teachers accused of malfeasance to a central location nor paying them to stay home is a novel concept. School districts around the country, depending on their size, use both policies.

In the Syracuse district, for instance, accused educators are not required to work while awaiting the outcome of investigations. New York City teachers are sent to reassignment centers notoriously known as "rubber rooms" because of their spartan decor and dearth of intellectual stimulation.

Urbanski said he would not tolerate a policy that leads to a "rubber room" in Rochester, but he welcomed a proposal that would give accused teachers "reasonable and useful" work at a central location.

"This kind of proposal would have to retain the presumption of innocence and the dignity of the person," Urbanski said. "I do believe that changing the location is actually more dignified than sending someone home, and more productive."

Brizard said the district would deliver an outline of the plan to the union by the end of the month.

DANDREAT@DemocratandChronicle.com

White Chalk Crime™ : The REAL Reason Schools Fail

by Karen Horwitz, Editor and Founder of End Teacher Abuse website and organization

"White Chalk Crime" is a former teacher’s attempt to initiate real school reform by presenting testimony from over 140 award winning educators about a grave social ill plaguing our nation's schools - teacher abuse and its underlying issue White Chalk Crime™.

This book is a Trojan horse filled with words that will scale the EducRAT$' - those running our schools in self-serving ways - heretofore impenetrable moat designed to shut the public out of their "business." And business it is, as you will learn in this comprehensive discourse on what is really wrong with our schools. The raiding of our schools, which EducRAT controlled boards methodically conceal from the public, has generated a state of hypocrisy so profound that our students must use coping mechanisms with progressively more dangerous outcomes, contributing to the decline of our children and our future.

Nevertheless, few teachers speak of White Chalk Crime™ because they will suffer severe abuse if they dare protest or report this. Thus, this book also crystallizes the story of teacher abuse, the calculated use of psychological terror by educational leaders to squelch resistance from teachers, principled educators, or involved parents. It connects the public with the truth that corruption in Education thrives behind the backs of an intelligent citizenry due to the widespread use of this shameful, covert practice and constructs a framework for unraveling it. The truth offers all of Education's legitimate stakeholders the chance to win, while ensuring that all those harming our children will lose. In addition, it describes Horwitz' personal experience with abuse at Avoca School District, an affluent north suburban Chicago school district as well as her disillusioning journey through the courts of this nation, all the way to the United States Supreme Court. Other books have explained portions of what is wrong with our schools. This book puts the complex puzzle together for the first time, including the real role that unions play, and leaves readers empowered with solutions. After reading this book, much that is bewildering about our schools will make sense including: why our schools have fallen in ranking compared to schools all over this world; why home schooling has taken off in this country; why firing teachers is "impossible"; and even why so many teachers are having sex with students. This is a must read for anyone concerned about children and the future of our country. It carves the first authentic path for school reform.

New York is well represented as is Klein and even a few of your former leaders who are doing badly elsewhere! And the rubber room is featured, of course. How could it not be considering it embodies teacher abuse at its best!

If you are interested in preordering, please email me at teacherkh@aol.com so I will be sure to purchase enough books since once I run out, books will only be available via the website. Then send a check to:

Karen Horwitz
25 E. Superior St. #2904
Chicago, IL 60611
Any questions, please contact me.

From Betsy Combier: Karen Horwitz is a pioneer in waging a battle for teacher rights in Illinois - and America's - public schools. Everyone should rea her new book, and help expose what is going on throughout "the land of the formerly free".

CHANCELLOR'S REGS ANTI-TEACHER

The following was sent to UFT Vice President Richard Farkas and forwarded to the New York Teacher (5/03)

To the Editor :

At a well-attended chapter meeting this morning the staff loudly voiced its concerns about a rash of corporal punishment allegations that have been made against teachers at our school. All of these allegations proved to be unfounded but teachers have been removed from the classroom for protracted periods of time while the allegations were being investigated. This not only demeans the teacher, but also disrupts the education of our students. I explained the Chancellor's Regulations to the staff and stressed caution in all dealings with children, but many felt that the regulations are ludicrously unjust to teachers. On the other hand, when students curse at or abuse teachers, little happens. Recently, for example, a teacher's aide was physically assaulted by a student. There was a superintendent's suspension as well as police charges. Even before this case was heard in court, the student was returned to our school as if nothing had happened. District 6 would not transfer the student. Such incidents undermine the school's disciplinary code and destroy staff morale. The Chancellor's Regulations are clearly anti-teacher. Teachers are considered guilty until an outside investigator gets around to determining that the charges were unfounded. In one current case, even after a teacher was cleared, he is still waiting for authorization to return to his classroom. We have had cases where teachers were removed from their classrooms for weeks before being returned. Another unfortunate result of this process is that children have learned that they can get back at a teacher by making a single allegation. Some have even turned it into a game of trying to get a teacher fired. In addition, there seem to be forces outside the school that are influencing parents to make frivolous complaints against staff. All of this has created a climate where teachers have to think twice about enforcing discipline or coming to the assistance of a colleague.We understand and support regulations that exist to protect children. However, the current regulations are grossly out of balance. The regulations are being used to attack teachers for ulterior purposes. The effect of this is damage to teachers' well-being and morale, disrupted education and wasted money for coverage of the classes of teachers removed from duty. Teachers deserve and are entitled to the same legal principle that all Americans enjoy : innocent until proven guilty, and a fair and quick hearing.

John Eichele, IS 52, Manhattan

About Joel Klein (NYC BOE press dept.)