One of the all-time abominations, NYC's rubber rooms (see Steve Brill's brilliant article, which helped bring about their demise: http://edreform.blogspot.com/2009/09/rubber-room-battle-over-new-york-citys.html), have finally come to an end.  Too bad the outrageous protections of the very worst teachers are still 99% intact…

There were the hugs goodbye, the exchanges of phone numbers and the almost sure to be broken promises of keeping in touch. They packed up their bags one last time and left Room 619, which had been their daytime home for months, if not years.

Monday was the last day of school for the city's 1 million students. But at the "rubber room" on West 125th Street, it was also the end of an era.

For the last several years, teachers accused of incompetence or wrongdoing have been forced into rubber rooms, formally called Temporary Reassignment Centers, where they receive a full salary but do not work while they wait for the Department of Education or a hearing officer to decide their fate.

But in April, city officials and the teachers' union agreed to eliminate the rooms, which had been a source of embarrassment for all. Beginning in the fall, those teachers will perform administrative duties or, if they are deemed a threat to students, be sent home.

So Monday was the last day for the roughly 700 teachers and administrators spread among seven reassignment centers, where they were sent after being accused of transgressions as small as persistent tardiness and as serious as sexually harassing students.

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Last Day of 'Rubber Rooms' for Suspended Teachers

By JENNIFER MEDINA

Published: June 28, 2010

www.nytimes.com/2010/06/29/education/29rubber.html