Education Wars

Here is another bullshit article about NYC's "rubber rooms" which tries to persuade those of us who know better it is "extremely difficult" to get rid of teachers.

Where in the fuck do reporters get the idea it is hard to fire teachers? It is a lie; in fact, "at-will" employees in the private sector have far more employee rights than do teachers. All a teacher has to do is work for a sociopathic principal and it's all over for the teacher--forever--because of the blacklisting of teachers nationwide. Somehow this is legal and has nothing to do with teachers convicted of wrongdoing with children or committing crimes.

This is public education's dirty little secret. People think public school districts are not political institutions, but they are, and perhaps the most political--and corrupt--of all.

Many if not most "targeted" teachers are older, more expensive teachers, and those who are whistle-blowers of wrongdoing by administrators. As for young teachers, principals can simply deny them tenure, and their careers are ruined--forever--thanks to the "blacklist" questions asked by most state departments of education and school districts.

Philip Nobile is a journalist who has written for New York Magazine and the Village Voice and is known for his scathing criticism of public figures. A teacher at Brooklyn's Cobble Hill School of American Studies, Nobile was assigned to a rubber room in 2007, "supposedly for pushing a boy while I was breaking up a fight." He contends the school system is retaliating against him for exposing wrongdoing.

He is spending his time working on his case and writing magazine articles and a novel.

"This is what happens to political prisoners throughout history," he said, alluding to the Rev. Martin Luther King Jr. "They put us in prison and we write our `Letter From the Birmingham Jail.'"

Some food for thought:

Administrators have so much power that they can make almost anyone believe that each teacher is worthy of the abuse they used against her. That is their most powerful weapon against us and is our biggest obstacle to overcome. Much of this power evolves from the naivete of our society.

Administrators buy psychiatric reports with taxpayers' monies. Administrators cover for each other as part of a Good Ol' Boy Network. Administrators simply deem a teacher insubordinate and the teacher is wrong.

Do you really believe the world of education exists on a plane above the rest of our society? The truth is business operates on a higher plane, and I can speak from experience. If for no other reason, businesses have an obligation that schools do not have; they have to be successful or they go bankrupt. Schools are bottomless pits of excess waste and unless an honest board is elected, there is no one overseeing this. No one.

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