I just heard about this and frankly, the actions of a public school in Flushing, NY left me stunned.
The NY Post reports that about 100 children from mostly poor Chinese immigrant families were forced to sit in an auditorium to watch a Disney movie while the rest of the 900 kids got to go to the school’s carnival.
Why? Because the poor families couldn’t afford to pay the $10 entry fee or didn’t understand that the fee was required.
As one school staffer of PS 120 put it, many of the excluded families are “struggling to keep their heads above water.”
One girl who was sent inside cried hysterically.
“She was the only one from her class who couldn’t go, so she was very upset,” the teacher said.
The principal did not return calls for comment. You can read what the parents association that sponsored the carnival and other teachers said in the NY Post.
RE: Poor Chinese immigrant students in NY made to feel like outcasts: Where’s the PTA or PTO? These organizations should be doing fundraisers to ensure all kids get to participate in the school carnival. Can’t the carnival organizers comp a minimum to these kids? As a former Room Parent, we tried to make sure all kids were able to participate whether the funds came from the PTA or by donation of other families or businesses supporting the school.