Once my research concludes at the end of June, The Educationist will settle into its intended pattern: a compilation of posting and commentary on education-related articles culled from the web each day.
This was featured on yahoo.com this morning:
I've never heard about these "rubber rooms" or reassignment centers before. While I am supportive of due process and proper investigation of teachers who were fired for seemingly suspicious or contentious reasons, I am surprised that teachers who abuse these centers by sneaking out to bars are still on the payroll. I was also concerned that those who are suffering from mental illness and are described as "depressed" or "unstable" remain at the centers; this certainly does not sound conducive to either getting personally mentally healthy or ensuring that our schools employ professionals who are capable of creating safe environments for students.
Finally, articles like this make me sad because not only am I disappointed by the way some of the individuals in the article have acted, but because revelations and articles like these seem to encourage the great amount of anti-teacher sentiment that I've found on the web. For many people outside the field of education, websites like yahoo.com are the only source for information relating to current educational practice. I wish we were able to read more positive articles about caring, committed, and professional teachers rather than those who slack or abuse the educational system.
What do you think?
Nothing to add, because you said it so well, but I absolutely agree. Respect for teachers is pretty low in American society. Even leaving aside the beliefs that their jobs are easy and anyone could do them, and the impression fostered by features like this, that teachers are lazy and trying to get away with anything they can, there's the widespread beliefs that teachers should have no rights of their own because they are a form of servant class, unworthy of respect or reward, who should be kissing the feet of the taxpayers who "pay their salaries". (As if teachers aren't taxpayers too!) Hence the rage at the very existence of teacher's unions -- behaving as if they were workers who have needs and rights and families to support!
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