Tales from NYC’s “rubber room”

While the original stories I read about the “Rubber Room” in the New Yorker several years ago seemed to be a clear example of bureaucratic rules taken to their extreme, there is possibly another side to these particular teacher’s cases:

That let rubber-room granddaddy Roland Pierre make a mockery of the system. He finally retired at age 76 last year — 14 years after he was yanked from PS 138 in Brooklyn and never taught again. Criminal charges in 1997 that he molested a sixth-grade girl were dropped. He got $97,101 a year.

In the case of Mr. Pierre, the charges were dropped. The man could have been 100% innocent; falsely accused. I don’t know the details, but I have to presume innocence.

If that’s the case, I don’t blame him one bit for doing what he’s doing.

While the rules that permit this may be outrageous, it may not necessarily be right to criticize people who are taking advantage of it.