Remember New York’s rubber rooms? These were where the schools sent teachers accused of wrongdoing. There they sat, in limbo, collecting their paychecks as they waited for their cases to be decided.
The rubber rooms for teachers were closed a while back. But in the last few weeks, a crime spree in Albany has converted the state Legislature into one giant rubber room — for pols. By latest count, four state lawmakers have been indicted but are still clinging to their seats.
Sen. Malcolm Smith was arrested for bribery, Sen. John Sampson for embezzlement, Assemblyman Eric Stevenson for bribery — and Assemblyman William Boyland was indicted by two US attorneys.
That’s just for starters. One quarter of Democrats in the Senate are being investigated by the feds. And serial sexual harasser Assemblyman Vito Lopez is being eyed by special prosecutor Dan Donovan.
It was bad enough when teachers too dangerous to be allowed near kids were consigned to rubber rooms. But what do you do with a legislature filled with people who retain their power to write laws even as they are under indictment for having broken them?