紐約"過錯(cuò)教師"慶賀"重生" -新概念英語

　　There were the hugs goodbye, the exchanges of phone numbers and the almost sure to be broken promises of keeping in touch. They packed up their bags one last time and left Room 619, which had been their daytime home for months, if not years. At the "rubber room" on West 125th Street, New York, June 28 was the end of an era.

　　6月28日，紐約西125大街，619房間里的人們緊緊擁抱，互留號(hào)碼，相約再見。這些遭“白日禁閉”數(shù)月甚至數(shù)年的教師，最后一次打點(diǎn)行李，然后離開。這一天，見證了紐約一個(gè)備受爭(zhēng)議的教育制度的終結(jié)。

　　For the last several years, teachers accused of incompetence or wrongdoing have been forced into rubber rooms, formally called Temporary Reassignment Centers, where they receive a full salary but do not work while they wait for the Department of Education or a hearing officer to decide their fate. But in April, city officials and the teachers’ union agreed to eliminate the rooms, which had been a source of embarrassment for all. Beginning in the fall, those teachers will perform administrative duties or be sent home if they are deemed a threat to students.

　　上世紀(jì)90年代，紐約教育部門專門成立“教師再分配中心”——亦稱“橡膠屋”——用以容留“不達(dá)標(biāo)或做錯(cuò)事”的教師。這些教師拿薪水，但不能被解雇，且在教育部調(diào)查清楚前不能返回課堂，他們于是被迫每日白天在“橡膠屋”度過。教師眼中臭名昭著的“橡膠屋”自出現(xiàn)伊始就成了紐約教育制度的最大尷尬。今年4月，紐約政府不堪壓力，最終與教師聯(lián)合會(huì)達(dá)成決定取消這一機(jī)構(gòu)。今年秋天開始，被訴教師將從課堂調(diào)離到行政辦公室從事臨時(shí)工作，與學(xué)生隔離開來，或者回到家里等待最終調(diào)查結(jié)果。

　　So Monday was the last day for the roughly 700 teachers and administrators spread among seven reassignment centers, where they were sent after being accused of transgressions as small as persistent tardiness and as serious as sexually harassing students.

　　于是，28日，滯留于紐約7家“橡膠屋”的700名教師與“橡膠屋”永久告別。這里的教師所犯錯(cuò)誤程度不一。最嚴(yán)重的莫過于被指控對(duì)學(xué)生進(jìn)行性侵犯，還有一些人只因“上課拖拖拉拉”就被送了進(jìn)來。