A teacher describes what it’s like to work with ATRs

Having three members of the Absent Teacher Reserve assigned to her school has been a challenge, writes Ariel Sacks, a Brooklyn middle school teacher, in the community section.

She writes:

These three teachers, all middle aged, have 10-15 years of experience and get paid much more than I do. However, they do not want to be at my school, and they know they are not wanted either. In the classroom, they behave like incompetent substitutes. No order, no real planning, no real teaching. Some have been rude to students on occasion. Students get rude right back to them (and you know how middle schoolers can be when they feel disrespected). It’s not good.