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Via KCRW | By Saul Gonzalez

Earlier this week, Los Angeles Unified School District teachers rallied to protest what they call “teacher jail.” These are the places LAUSD instructors and other school staff are sent when they’re accused of some sort of classroom misconduct and are under investigation by school authorities and law enforcement. That inappropriate conduct can range from yelling at a student to sexual abuse.

Currently there are 260 people in LAUSD teacher jails, which are located at the district’s regional administrative offices. The jails don’t have bars, guards or alarms. They’re usually very ordinary office spaces, where teachers are sent to check in daily and sit in cubicles for hours at a time.

While in teacher jail, instructors are supposed to spend their time studying ways to be better teachers, such as reading educational journals and reviewing class coursework. However, the day-to-day reality can be very different. Often the instructors, who receive their full salaries while in teacher jail, read magazines and newspapers, play with their cell phones, gossip and knit. Little of it has to do with education.

Read — and listen to – the full story here.