As the point person for news stories about unionized public-sector drones with extravagant benefits packages, I’ve had this story sent to me by several readers.

700 NYC Teachers Are Paid to Do Nothing
Hundreds of New York City public school teachers accused of offenses ranging from insubordination to sexual misconduct are being paid their full salaries to sit around all day playing Scrabble, surfing the Internet or just staring at the wall, if that’s what they want to do.
Because their union contract makes it extremely difficult to fire them, the teachers have been banished by the school system to its “rubber rooms” — off-campus office space where they wait months, even years, for their disciplinary hearings. …

Now, you can call me a burned-out old cynic if you like (the cry goes up across the nation: “DERB, YOU’RE A BURNED-OUT OLD CYNIC!”) but I’m afraid my first reaction was: What, only 700?