Quotation of the Day 9/3/2011

Page 403: We learn that the closing of the rubber rooms in New York City hasn’t really accomplished much. Rather than be fired since they won their hearings, many of these teachers became part of what’s called ATR or Absent Teacher Reserve where, according to Brill, “they were still paid to do nothing.” Actually, they don’t do ‘nothing’ but serve as substitute teachers when regular teachers are absent. Though they do get paid more than subs who are not ATR, it’s not accurate to say they do ‘nothing.’

This is from a poor, tortured soul named Gary Rubinstein, who has plowed through Steven Brill's Class Warfare and written fact-checking notes on the entire book.  Rubinstein stayed awake all the way to page 403, where he noticed that Brill, like so many others, has swallowed the canard that ATR teachers sit around in a room with padded walls and do nothing.  Shame on Brill (as usual) and kudos to Rubinstein.




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