Ridding New York of 'Rubber Rooms'

New York City's infamous "rubber rooms," an eternal limbo for city teachers under review, are finally on the chopping block. Mayor Michael Bloomberg and the teachers' union have come to an agreement to rid themselves of the reassignment centers, where teachers are sent to do nothing, sometimes for years, while receiving full salaries. The new solution is to put these teachers to work in administrative positions or to have them perform duties outside the classroom. Although the centers themselves are not set to close until fall, the agreement is supposed to speed up the resolution of these cases.