Guilty until Proven Innocent:

Reforming NYC Teacher Discipline

Clare Kelley, Nick Turner, and Raul Mendoza, Columbia University

By expediting investigations into teacher misconduct and providing

alternative employment options for teachers under investigation, New
York City could ensure that innocent teachers are not unduly penalized
by the investigation process itself.

New York City’s Department of Key Facts

Education has chosen to address • The total cost of rubber rooms, including
State Education Law 3020a by funding for suspended teachers’ salaries,
placing teachers under disciplinary exceeds $25 million annually. This figure
investigation in temporary does not include the cost of the investiga-
reassignment centers. In these tions themselves.
reassignment centers, or “rubber • Between 600 and 900 teachers occupy
rooms,” teachers are forced to one of twelve rubber rooms at any given
remain inactive while awaiting time, while each room has a suggested ca-
verdicts of their cases. Rubber rooms pacity of only 26 people.
are tightly packed and inadequately • Under New York City’s current reassign-
supervised. Teachers have ment program, some teachers have spent
described conditions as oppressive, up to 10 years in rubber rooms before a
regimented, and unhappy. verdict has been reached.
Furthermore, investigations are
often slowly processed, with some
cases lasting multiple years. Alternative employment opportunities should be
offered to those being investigated and the period of investigation should be
limited by State Education Law.

History
Since the 1930s, the Supreme Court has upheld the unconstitutionality of
summarily dismissing tenured public employees who have not been found guilty of
wrongdoing. Created as a means
Talking Points to satisfy both the Supreme
• New York City’s teacher reassignment cen- Court’s ruling and the demands
ters, commonly referred to as “rubber rooms,” of unions, reassignment centers
unfairly subject teachers under disciplinary were considered a progressive
investigation to idleness and inactivity. compromise by the Department
• Rubber rooms are literal rooms in which of Education. After numerous
teachers under investigation sit, with nothing small amendments, the policy
to do, while earning their normal salaries. has existed in its final form since
• Investigations of teacher misconduct often August 25, 1994.
last far too long, costing the Department of
Education a great deal of money and keeping Analysis
innocent teachers out of the classroom some- The purpose of reassignment
times for over a year. centers is to provide teachers
under investigation with fair and just alternatives to being in the classroom.
However, New York City’s current reassignment program fails to do so. Without
work or any other activity, teachers sit idly in rubber rooms for seven hours each
working day, contributing nothing to children’s education or the community at-
large. Common activities include listening to iPods, playing cards, and sleeping.
As of 2007, personal items are not allowed to be kept overnight in rubber rooms,
further limiting the range of activities permitted by the Department.

Effects of spending time in rubber rooms have often been described as

psychologically and emotionally damaging. According to one source, teachers
“often report feelings of being deprived of their dignity and a sense of their self
worth,” making it even more difficult for those found innocent to return to their
classrooms with the same fervor and confidence they once had. Additionally,
the reputations of teachers who return to their original workplaces have been
severely tarnished. There have been many cases reported in which innocent
teachers have been unfairly shunned by their peers.

Lengthy investigations can also inhibit smooth transitions back to classrooms.

Some cases have been known to last as long as ten years, displacing qualified
teachers for far too long. Charges are sometimes trivial and should not require
the reassignment of qualified teachers. Although serious offenses and crimes
might require the displacement of those under investigation, cases of disciplinary
misconduct as trivial as disagreements over curricula, or general incompetency
should be handled in a far more appropriate and timely manner.

Rubber rooms and the reassignment programs place a substantial financial

burden on the Department of Education. Total costs have been estimated at $25
million annually, not including the costs for investigative procedures themselves.
This figure becomes all the more significant when considering the loss of several
hundred teachers still on full pay and the need for several hundred more to
replace them. While it is legally and ethically necessary to pay full salaries to
teachers under investigation, those salaries should pay for a productive use of
teachers’ time.

Next Steps
Concern for the high cost and minimal benefits of New York City’s rubber rooms
is beginning to surface, though further steps must be taken by the Department of
Education to ensure that teachers under investigation are fairly treated. Two major
changes should be made to the current policy. First, the Department’s Office
of Special Investigations should look further into expediting the investigation
process, as lengths of some current cases have been longer than teachers’
tenures in the first place. Second, alternative employment opportunities for
these teachers could take the form of either administrative duties within the
Department or community service projects in and around the five boroughs.

———————————— Sources ————————————

*A full list of sources is available upon request

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