"Think of Abu Ghraib or Guantanamo, with a paycheck"

“The students know they can get teachers in trouble by just saying anything,” Isenberg said.

Retired teacher and California Teachers Empowerment Network president Larry Sand said rubber rooms are necessary and are not going away anytime soon.

“There’s arbitration and hearings and all sorts of things that have to take place before a teacher would actually lose his job,” Sand said. “If he’s not in the classroom, they have to put him somewhere.”