Education

Disgraced Teacher Enjoys Well-Paid 13th Year in ‘Rubber Room’ After Sexually Molesting 6th Grade Student

On June 26, 1997, New York teacher Roland Pierre was was arrested on felony sex-abuse charges after allegedly calling one of his PS 138 sixth-grade students into an empty classroom, closed the door and molested her.  Pierre was permanently removed from the classroom, but like many tenured teachers accused of wrongdoing, he wasn’t fired.  Instead, he joined other disgraced educators in the so-called “rubber room” — the “purgatory of teachers yanked for the classroom for alleged wrongdoing” — where he’d wait out the union-guided appeals process.

But, as the NY Post notes, 13 years later, Pierre is still receiving full pay and fringe benefits from his old teaching job, including health benefits, pension and vacation time. In all, the 75-year-old continues to pull down $97,101 a year for a job he hasn’t done in 13 years.

According to the Post, Pierre is one of six tenured teachers that Chancellor Joel Klein has refused to let back into the classroom, even after the Department of Education refused to fire him.  But of the other educators, Pierre has been “permanently reassigned” the longest of all.

The school investigator at the time had recommended Pierre’s termination after he gripped the student in a “bear hug” and “kissed her on the mouth, inserted his tongue in her mouth, fondled her chest and reached under her skirt.”  In his March 1998 report, the investigator said the frightened young girl went to the administrative office and “burst into tears.”  But when investigators questioned Pierre, he refused to speak, opting instead for a written statement that admitted he had met the girl behind closed doors, but denied any wrongdoing.

The Post reports that in the intervening years, the Department of Education dropped disciplinary actions against Pierre “on a technicality” but he remains in the rubber room until he is reassigned.  Though he was eligible for retirement at 62, Pierre continues to collect his full teaching salary.

At his age, he’d be able to collect a full pension and is eligible to collect Social Security, making his post-retirement annual income as high as $125,000.

Another teacher accused of serious wrongdoing — including impregnating a 16-year-old student and allegedly molesting a string of other girls — finally retired this month after spending seven years in his own “rubber room”:

For seven years, math teacher Francisco Olivares, 61, did nothing but rake in his $94,154 salary.

The DOE bungled a chance to boot Olivares in 1978 after he impregnated a 16-year-old former student at IS 61 in Corona. He skirted rape charges by marrying the teen; their baby was born less than nine months later.

Still in the classroom, he was criminally charged a decade later with showing one 12-year-old girl porn, photographing her with pants down and rubbing up against another 12-year-old girl. His conviction was reversed on technicalities.

Now retired, Olivares collects a cushy pension of $62,000 a year.

In April, the United Federation of Teachers announced that New York City’s controversial “rubber rooms” would be gone by the year’s end.  The city called the news a “breakthrough.”

“Starting this September, you’ll be happy to know that rubber rooms will be a thing of the past,” Mayor Michael Bloomberg said.  “To say that this is a big deal is probably an understatement.”

But as the above cases make clear, so-called “rubber rooms” are still alive and well.  Earlier this month, the New York Times noted that the unions’ pledge had gone unfulfilled:

While hundreds of teachers have had their cases resolved, for many of those still waiting, the definition of “work” has turned out to be a loose one. Some are now doing basic tasks, like light filing, paper-clipping, tracking down student information on a computer or using 25-foot tape measures to determine the dimensions of entire school buildings. Others sit without work in unadorned cubicles or at out-of-the-way conference tables.

“They told me to sit in a little chair in a corner and never get up and walk around,” said Hal Lanse, a $100,000-a-year teacher from Queens who had been accused of sexual harassment. He was assigned to an administrative office on Fordham Road in the Bronx in September as part of a deal that led the city to drop the charges against him.

One day he plopped down on a couch in the hallway and began reading a novel, he said. Eventually, he dozed off. Then he was asked to “paper-clip some papers” and refused: he was charged with insubordination. He is now collecting his full salary at home in Queens, with plans to retire in January; the city is trying to fire him for insubordination before then, which would reduce his pension.

“There are indeed still rubber rooms,” he said. “They just don’t call them that.”

Comments (156)

1 2 3 ... 5
  • SND97
    Posted on December 27, 2010 at 5:36pm

    I just hope its not to late to turn things around, but I’m afraid it may be too late

    Report Post »  
  • heavyduty
    Posted on December 27, 2010 at 5:35pm

    If and when we ever get a Republican controlled Senate and House again. We should force them to disband UNIONS once and for all. If not then they don’t get any public money to support them.

    Report Post »  
  • Seagal45
    Posted on December 27, 2010 at 5:30pm

    Scumbag POS, should be castrated and thrown in jail.

     
  • Rickfromillinois
    Posted on December 27, 2010 at 5:30pm

    Ask any teacher what the problem with modern education is and they will tell you that it is the lack of money and lack of involvement of parents. It is never bad teachers or tenure. Every time they want more they claim that it is “for the children”. All unions for public workers especially the teachers. They are ruining the country and at the same time bankrupting us. Is it any wonder many of our children are being taught how wonderful socialism is?

    Report Post » Rickfromillinois  
    • firstlast
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 7:20pm

      so teachers are the problem?

      Report Post »  
    • NeoFan
      Posted on December 29, 2010 at 1:27pm

      That’s Right!! Give that man the Cupie Doll.
      Your a fast learner.

      Report Post »  
  • commonsenseguy
    Posted on December 27, 2010 at 5:25pm

    why work when the unions well protect the molesters and pay them to???? the unions don’t care about the children, they don’t care if one of their members rape,molest, or try and blow up the pentagon or break any other law, all they care about is union dues, it is not the workers, it is the leaders,this guy should been in jail,or at least unemployed. i know these union workers need work, but what i don’t understand is why they let the union bosses use them and use their money to push socialist propaganda to turn this great country into a communist country.{ remember,if you can teach them what you want, them beat it into them, or something like that} if these workers think the unions are going to save their jobs when they get their one world order, then they are mistaken.they will take their hard earned money and share it with foreign workers to bring them up to a better pay scale and then what. when any body molest a child, they should be gutted and let the buzzards eat them, that would be great because they are scum.

    Report Post »  
  • BigBouy
    Posted on December 27, 2010 at 5:06pm

    That’s a union mans job to molest kids!

    Report Post »  
  • BMartin1776
    Posted on December 27, 2010 at 5:05pm

    Someone explain how this can be as it isnt the first time we have heard about this? The people know, the news is aware of it yet NO ONE is doing anything about it? The level of complacency is sickening and things are going to get worse. Whether its some degenerate like this or one of the now well hated in govt.. How long will America stay asleep while crap like this goes on, with the unions continuing to encourage this through special interests that increase their influence and power?

    What Are you prepared to do? http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F7jsKLXqA0g

    Dont let up on any of the power mad animals, go after them, show them WE the people are the ones in power not them http://www.savingtherepublic.com

    Report Post » BMartin1776  
  • N37BU6
    Posted on December 27, 2010 at 4:57pm

    A lot of Catholic priests are kicking themselves.

    Report Post » N37BU6  
  • firstlast
    Posted on December 27, 2010 at 4:57pm

    teachers making $97K annual salaries?! All this time I thought they made meager incomes…as a matter of fact, I did a litle research on median teaching salaries and this is what I found;

    http://www.payscale.com/research/US/All_K-12_Teachers/Salary

    K-12 no one makes more than 45K on average

    New York is significantly higher than national average with a 66K median income; http://www.teachersalaryinfo.com/average-teacher-salary-new-york.html

    Why were these peders making so much in relation to the rest of the teachers in the country? odd

    Report Post »  
    • davecoolworld
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 5:16pm

      Teachers make a lot more than that. There are so many ways to cover their real salaries. Websites that post their “earnings” may have a point to make. Unfortunately, in the America we in today, information must be checked and rechecked. Oh, and don’t forget to fact check. You should see the house our local elementary school principal built. Before you ask about her husband or other money…her money came from the school district…yes, I’m sure.

      Report Post » davecoolworld  
    • firstlast
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 7:14pm

      Thats what I was doing; fact checking. And it didnt check out. I went to at least 5 different earnings sites. As a matter of fact, one site was advertising teaching degrees, so they would probably have more of an incentive to pad the figures. And while we’re in the spirit of fact-checking; you say you‘re sure you know where these peoples’ money is coming from…can you make that a ‘fact’ with some proof? So what you‘re saying is that my kid’s 2nd grade teacher is making more that I think? Is someone falsifying teaching salaries?

      Report Post »  
  • Americain
    Posted on December 27, 2010 at 4:55pm

    Unions = Socialists = Communists. ‘Nuff said.

    Report Post » Americain  
  • 12thArticle
    Posted on December 27, 2010 at 4:53pm

    A felonious sexual assault on a minor and he’s not in jail? What is wrong with this picture?

    Report Post »  
  • PUNCLE D
    Posted on December 27, 2010 at 4:53pm

    I smell a teacher union in here somewhere, if he would have done that to the school drug dog, he would have been fired and sent to prison, plus the canine would have received therapy, paid by the taxpayers of course.

    Report Post »  
  • mcpbob
    Posted on December 27, 2010 at 4:52pm

    This is why when they say our children are not learning…. there are hundreds of teachers in New York just like that, and you can’t fire them, they are all still collecting their salaries and benefits… THE UNIONS HAVE TO GO….

    Report Post » mcpbob  
  • tobefreeinmt
    Posted on December 27, 2010 at 4:51pm

    Sorry, but Tenure is a joke. Period. How much proof does one need to see this???
    This dirtbag should have been skinned alive, but no! We’ll just pay him for the privilege. This is as criminal as it gets. We must start to remove those who permit this kind of thing to happen. THEY should be brought up on criminal charges too. If it were my baby that this had happened to, I wouldn’t be so kind. Not by a long shot!!!

    Report Post » tobefreeinmt  
  • Spawnomite
    Posted on December 27, 2010 at 4:49pm

    Just goes to show you the type of people who support the Kenyan.

    Report Post »  
  • Anonymous T. Irrelevant
    Posted on December 27, 2010 at 4:47pm

    Get rid of teacher’s unions and tenure. Pay teachers on merit and you will see the survival of the fittest. This guy should be in jail. If that was my daughter, he would be walking bow-legged.

    Report Post » Anonymous T. Irrelevant  
    • SlimnRanger
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 6:40pm

      If it were my daughter i would get life for murder,i would make sure he never molested another child ever. Country justice still lives

       
  • booger71
    Posted on December 27, 2010 at 4:47pm

    Why were these pedophiles never arrested and tried, or even sued by the parents?

    Report Post » booger71  
  • KaptainKody
    Posted on December 27, 2010 at 4:46pm

    The results of 30+ years of progressive policies! The only people that are considered criminals or those prosecuted or pursed by our progressives are those that teach morals and personal accountability, global warming deniers or those that sing Christmas carols! What in the hell has happened to us. Oh that’s right I said it earlier. 30 years of progressive policies. Pedophiles go free and Christians are persecuted

    Report Post »  
  • Diamondback
    Posted on December 27, 2010 at 4:46pm

    Another reason WE THE PEOPLE MUST get both the government AND THE UNIONS OUT OF OUR SCHOOLS AND away from our children!

    Report Post »  
  • VanGrungy
    Posted on December 27, 2010 at 4:46pm

    Waiting for Superman is an awesome Doc

    Report Post » VanGrungy  
  • HillBillySam1
    Posted on December 27, 2010 at 4:45pm

    The scumbags who came up with this idea should be locked up…..only with union support could pedophiles and perverts be “paid” at the expense of the taxpayers. This is the true tragedy of the Dept. of Education: It is not about our children, it is about union support for political power and control. This is why we are so far behind academically…..“Look for the Union Label”……

    Report Post »  
    • sWampy
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 5:40pm

      While unions are evil and have no place in a free society, it’s the lawyers that have enabled/caused most of the problems in this world, and have no place in any society.

      Report Post »  
  • N37BU6
    Posted on December 27, 2010 at 4:45pm

    Put his face up there. You can find it online.

    People like him need their faces hung on the wall of shame.

    Report Post » N37BU6  
  • freedoc
    Posted on December 27, 2010 at 4:44pm

    The Ultimate Entitlement Program.

    The fact that they cannot ‘fire’ this man now, let alone in the past, is symbolic of the power of unions, and their leadership, which will stop at nothing to further their agenda of protected status for their members, at whatever cost.

    Its sickening for all tax-paying Americans to foot this bill.

    But, its downright heartwrenching to realize this same story is played out, time and again, across America, whilst many of us work and slave diligently to make 1/2 this clown’s salary, with no pension, and no real retirement.

    Government workers, many, are not ‘servants’ in any sense of that word, but rather have become ‘masters’ of the tax-paying hordes of slaves who pay for their indulgence, their laxity, their stupidity, and their greed.

    Report Post »  
    • Joseff
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 4:58pm

      The purpose of a union is, among other things, to force good workers to carry bad workers. Imagine how much money the school systems could save if these miscreants could be fired, much less convicted. At least in jail the public wouldn’t have to pay nearly as much to keep them.

      Joe

      Report Post » Joseff  
  • camelid1
    Posted on December 27, 2010 at 4:43pm

    Sitting in rubber rooms, are you kidding me? Why aren’t these pervs in jail? Oh, that’s right, they belong to a union!!

    Report Post »  
    • Diamondback
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 4:51pm

      Jail MA.

      Why aren’t they in a cemetery?

      Report Post »  
    • Dale
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 4:56pm

      Except for belonging to a union’s being a reason he is not in jail, I agree with you. Why is he NOT in JAIL? After 13 years his victim would presumably graduate, and he could return to the classroom; were it safe. What is wrong with New York justice.

      Report Post » Dale  
    • joseph Fawcett
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 5:12pm

      I would like to know why hasn’t the Law been brought in to handle these cases??? The Catholic Church got in major trouble for just reassingning preists that did this sort of stuff. Why wasn’t it handled by the police and the law???? Sounds like the Unions even will protect perverts that are a danger to the children. Makes me sick!!! If the Union leaders want the unions to look anyway respectable (they don’t care at all) they should never, Never protect ot try to protect these people! It is a shame and disgusting, and is giving fuel to the fire against Unions.

      http://www.josephfawcettart.com western artist

      joseph Fawcett  
    • StMichelob
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 5:36pm

      @DIAMONDBACK ….If it were MY daughter, he wouldn’t be in a cemetary. He’d be a missing person. Forever.
      That’s the GEORGIA way.

      My Sacred Honor  
    • firstlast
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 7:16pm

      A union can protect a job, but they can not prevent a criminal prosecution folks. Perhaps you should be slamming the department of “justice”.

       
    • Taquoshi
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 8:38pm

      Joseph Fawcett asked a really good question regarding why the Catholic Church was sued to the nth degree over some priests that were pedophiles, but the teachers’ unions go to great length to protect their staff who are pedophiles. Interesting, no? I would chance to say that there are more school teachers in the U.S. than there are Roman Catholic priests. The interesting thing would be to look at how many cases of sexual abuse have been filed against priests as opposed to how many have been filed against teachers. World Net Daily used to have a list of all the news stories of teachers who have been accused of sexual impropriety with their students.

      The Catholic Church has been sued for allowing males to be unsupervised with children, but the Boy Scouts of America have been sued for not allowing those who admit they are gay to be troop leaders.

      These are interesting things to consider.

      Report Post » Taquoshi  
    • Dale
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 9:31pm

      Taquoshi;

      Priests are Church employees, teachers are, typically, state employees. Unions would be considered advisors, they therefore could not be sued. Any lawyers please correct me.

      Report Post » Dale  
    • Chet Hempstead
      Posted on December 28, 2010 at 3:17am

      The Catholic Church got sued because they put known and suspected molesters into other churches as parish priests without warning the congregants. The Board of Education at least keeps them away from the kids, even if they can’t fire them. That’s why the Church deservedly got sued, and the City gets by with the minimal action that could be considered acting in good faith.

      The teachers mentioned in this article are pretty obviously guilty, and the city should have tried harder to fire them, but there will always be more ambiguous cases that have to be treated this way because teenagers lie, and the word of a teenager unsupported by any real evidence should never be considered proof of anything.

      Report Post »  
    • cogito ergo sum
      Posted on December 28, 2010 at 9:48am

      @Chet Hempstead & First Last

      Good points!

      Cogito Ergo Sum

      Report Post » cogito ergo sum  
  • mtnclimberjim
    Posted on December 27, 2010 at 4:42pm

    I just said bad words. Unions may they rot in hell.

    Report Post » mtnclimberjim  
    • cubber
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 5:00pm

      @mthclimberjim – They will. BE PREPARED.

      Report Post » cubber  
    • NeoFan
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 5:44pm

      Be careful what you say. He is a teachers union pedophile.

      Report Post »  
    • Cliff
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 5:46pm

      get a rope!

      Report Post » Cliff  
    • Aldo_the_Apche
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 5:49pm

      it takes 800,000 thousand dallars to get a bad teacher fired. the DOE is a major joke and we are funneling our money there to pay for union benefits and a**holes like these teachers

      Report Post » Aldo_the_Apche  
    • mtnclimberjim
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 5:49pm

      My wife is a teacher and refuses to join the union and gets lots of grief because of it. I just sent this article to her and she is posting it to her face book and sending it to the teachers she works with. That’s my girl.

      Report Post » mtnclimberjim  
    • Creestof
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 6:18pm

      Can I get the address of this “rubber room”…I may just have a scope that will allow me to reach out and say “Hi!”

       
    • Cobra Blue
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 6:55pm

      You know when stuff like this will stop. When the people revolt. Until then…keep sending your money to the government like good subjects. Quit depending on politicians to do the job.

      Report Post »  
    • Sam I am
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 7:00pm

      In the “Good old days” the father would have had a parent / teacher, ahem, meeting, and the problem would be solved. Man to man.
      I miss those days.

      Report Post » Secret Squirrel  
    • guyperram
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 7:12pm

      There is nothing like having a good, strong union on your side. If they fired him the ding-a-lings would probably go out on strike in support of him. Of course when you consider just how much the kids are actually learning, their strike would be a good thing. Since the teachers wouldn’t have to be paid, maybe they could balance their budget.

      Report Post »  
    • RobertCA
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 8:54pm

      Great job Unions , protect the criminals & I think Hilda Solis should add on “ Documented or not ” a new slogan “ Wanted or not ” you’re still have the right to be payed .

      Report Post » Robert-CA  
    • Libertyluvnmomma
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 8:58pm

      They will continue to get away with this as long as there are students.
      If your children are in public schools please keep quiet. It takes actual physical courage to do anything different. Talk is cheap- look our politicians do it. So can conservatives at The Blaze.

      Report Post » Libertyluvnmomma  
    • Skinny Mike
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 9:21pm

      Had this been my daughter that was molested by this creep, he’d have “tenure” alright………
      ten year(s) + buried in his grave !!!!

      BlazingPatriot  
    • walkwithme1966
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 10:17pm

      OMG – please tell me that this story is not true – doing nothing and collecting full salary for 13 years and I can’t find a job – I guess you just have to laugh!! http://maboulette.wordpress.com

      Report Post » walkwithme1966  
    • patriotwoman
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 10:54pm

      @SamIam: I miss those days too.

      What I can’t believe is the salaries these “teachers” are getting! I thought the teachers and teacher’s unions biggest gripe was that teachers were “underpaid”. I know very few people who make that kind of money – and those that do are business owners or *licensed* professionals with many, many years on the job.

      Report Post »  
    • turtleboy
      Posted on December 28, 2010 at 5:00am

      Doesn’t anyone proof-read copy anymore? It is incredibly annoying. There are at least three grammatical errors in the first paragraph of this story. Good job! Public education, I assume.

      Report Post »  
    • Pocono Countryboy
      Posted on December 28, 2010 at 8:40am

      “Skinny Mike
      Posted on December 27, 2010 at 9:21pm

      Had this been my daughter that was molested by this creep, he’d have “tenure” alright………
      ten year(s) + buried in his grave !!!!”

      My sentiments exactly. If these perverts had molested my daughter, they would have never made it to court let alone be allowed to collect a paycheck all these years.

      Report Post »  
    • Border Ruffian
      Posted on December 28, 2010 at 8:58am

      @ walkwithme1966,,“you just have to laugh”? WTF are you talking about? Laugh? A girl is sexually assualted by a teacher and all you can come up with is, “OMG, say it aint so, just gotta have a good laugh”, I bet you wouldn’t be laughing if that was your daughter that got molested. You are a clown and a fool. I say child molesters should be turned into worm food.

      Report Post » Border Ruffian  
    • fairtax4all
      Posted on December 28, 2010 at 9:07am

      That these “rubber rooms” still exist is a disgrace. This is a prime example of the pitfalls of unions.

      Report Post »  
    • CYCLONE
      Posted on December 28, 2010 at 2:04pm

      why is’nt he in prison ???????

      Report Post »  
    • pinnybogg
      Posted on December 28, 2010 at 4:40pm

      I was a SEIU member, and God I didn’t know what it meant!!! I was a Registered Nurse. My hubby was a UAW member, being an Electrician at a GM plant. He didn’t realize what that all meant!!!

      Union members were fed a line of BS My dad said never work for anyone that doesn’t have a union. Today union is a bad word but in the day, they were life savers.

      Report Post »  
    • Sinista Mace
      Posted on December 30, 2010 at 10:17am

      Wow.

      You really can’t make this stuff up.

      Report Post » V-MAN MACE  
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