Here's some good news on Tax Day.
The Daily News reports that the city of New York has worked out an agreement with unions to stop paying certain teachers for not working. Currently, teachers awaiting disciplinary action for charges ranging from incompetence to sexual misconduct are sent to "rubber rooms" where they spend the whole day doing nothing yet still receive their full paycheck. Last year the city estimated that the roughly 700 teachers in the "rubber rooms" cost taxpayers $65 million.
From the Daily News:
The surprise agreement would bar any new teachers accused of violations from being put in the rubber rooms starting in September. Instead, they would be assigned to administrative duties outside the school or, if the cases are relatively minor, they may be reassigned to non-teaching duties in the school.Educators accused of the most serious sexual or financial misconduct would be suspended with pay, and there would be an increase in the number of crimes considered so extreme, that a teacher could be suspended without pay.
The city will also make reforms to expedite the hearing process since they only manage to get through about 5 cases a month.