Before Randi Weingarten became President of the UFT, there were few, if any ATRs and the "rubber rooms" were populated by between 80 and 100 teachers annually. However, as Randi Weingarten leaves the UFT we have both an ATR crises with 2,340 ATRs and overcrowded "rubber rooms" that have over 700 teachers in them. Both of these problems can be traced back to the infamous 2005 contract that allowed the DOE to hire "newbie teachers" rather than fill the position with an excessed teacher. The result was that when Principals had a vacancy they no longer had to fill it with an excessed teacher and could hire whomever the Principal wanted. This resulted in not only the creation of the ATR ranks but senior teachers found themselves reassigned out of the classroom as Principals saw an opportunity to remove them based on frivolous charges, knowing that they can then hire a "newbie teacher" for less money.
It's all about circumventing tenure law and the bottom line.
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