Teacher Gets $500K in Taxpayer Bucks to Do Nada
Tenured teachers tough to fire so tossed into rubber rooms
By JENNIFER MILLMAN
Updated 11:15 AM EST, Sun, Jun 28, 2009
Meet George Addison. The high school instructor has made half a million dollars over the last six years, courtesy of New York City taxpayers, and he hasn't taught a single class, according to a published report.
Accused of fondling a teenage special-education student, the longtime computer teacher has been biding his time in a rubber room since 2003, when the criminal case against him got tossed out, reports The New York Post. Addison has also been probed for harsh punishment tactics during his 12-year career.
Despite the allegations against him, Addison earns $79,531 annually to squat in one of the city's "teacher reassignment centers" or "rubber rooms" while the charges languish in the Department of Education's penal system, according to the Post.
He's not idling alone. Hundreds of New York City public school teachers accused of offenses ranging from insubordination to sexual misconduct are being paid their full salaries to sit around all day playing Scrabble, surfing the Internet or just staring at the wall, if that's what they want to do.
Because their union contract makes it extremely difficult to fire them, the teachers have been banished by the school system to its "rubber rooms'' -- off-campus office space where they wait months, even years, for their disciplinary hearings.
One teacher has been languishing in a rubber room since 2002; eight since 2003. More than 200 have wasted away for a minimum of two years with an average staying 57 weeks, the Post reported.
The rubber rooms are a sanctuary for exiled education professionals. Forty-three of their inhabitants have been charged with sexual misconduct, including more than a dozen for improper student relationships. Nearly 150 were charged with employee misconduct, 117 with corporal punishment and 45 for incompetence, according to the Post.
More than 100 got tossed out of the rubber rooms after being arrested.
Those who spend time in the rubber rooms acknowledge they get paid, but the damage to their reputation can be irreversible.
A spokeswoman for the DOE says the agency has "taken several steps to streamline" how things work for rubber-room employees, including assigning staff to monitor their status, the Post reported.
Copyright Associated Press / NBC New York
First Published: Jun 28, 2009 10:07 AM EST
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