Schools
Whistleblower Teacher Barred From Filming 'Rubber Room': Report
Teacher had been streaming his days in an effort to expose the city's "rubber rooms," the New York Post said.
The Department of Education has barred teachers from using electronics in the “rubber room,” after one filmed days where he would do nothing and still take home his $75,000 salary, according to the New York Post.
IS 49 teacher Francesco Portelos set up his tablet to stream video online and let viewers watch him idly play on a laptop for hours in an Ozone Park, Queens, conference room where he was put on "administrative duty."
After the incident, officials told him not to bring any computer equipment into the building, and gave him science lesson plans to work on, the paper said.
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The teacher was pulled from the classroom in April after administrators at his Staten Island school accused him of misconduct, though he still earns a $75,000 salary waiting in the rubber room. Portelos believes the charges are retaliation after he accused an IS 49 administrator of double dipping – collecting overtime from the city while getting paid by an outside agency.