Number of LA teachers in detention on the rise, as taxpayers foot ‘prohibitively expensive’ bill

By Heather Kays

A year ago, the Los Angeles Unified School District said it was taking steps to reduce the number of teachers relegated to “rubber rooms” — a derisive term for the place where school staff members land when accused of misconduct of one kind or another and are deemed unfit to be around students.  A year later, there are more staff in “teacher jail” than before, and it’s no easier to get rid of the really bad apples.  While the situation is not optimal for teachers or students, it’s even worse for the district, which continues to pay salaries to staff members who aren’t producing anything........“Hopefully, California’s Supreme Court will see that the state’s dismissal, tenure, and seniority laws violate students’ right to a quality education,” Izumi added...............Larry Sand, a former teacher and head of the California Teachers Empowerment Network, concurs with Izumi’s assessment.  “Due to the byzantine dismissal statutes that are in the state education code — the same union-mandated statutes the Vergara litigants are trying to rewrite — it is very difficult to get rid of an under-performing or even criminal teacher. It is also prohibitively expensive,” ........To Read More...