Claim Teachers Used Pupils As Shoe Shine Boys: DA Calls Charges “Serious” (text)
By SARA SLACK
Charges that “backward” pupils in a 600 School in Brooklyn are being forced by teachers during class time, to wash their cars, shine their shoes and help the custodian clean the school building will be probed Thursday by the Kings County District Attorney.
Ninety-eight per cent of the pupils are Negro and Puerto Rican. The charges and supporting evidence are scheduled to be laid before Brooklyn Chief Assistant D.A. Aaron Koota at 3:30 p.m. during a hearing to be held in his office.
Commenting on the charges Tuesday, Koota told the Amsterdam News: “I have a conference with Attorney Paul Zuber Thursday afternoon here in my office. I must talk with him and see what there is to these charges. The charges, if true, are very serious, some of which are, teachers using backward children for their own personal purposes and then paying them with City money.
Investigating
“I want to see what the facts in the case are before we start the investigation. We can only act on evidence. I’ve asked Attorney Zuber to bring his evidence, witnesses and statements with him.”
Richard M. Lubell, acting associate superintendent in Charge of the division of Child Welfare, which supervises 600 Schools told the Amsterdam News:
“We are investigating Mr. Zuber’s complaints. We will first determine the acts. Then we will deal with them accordingly.
Seymour Hillowitz, principal of the School PS 614 at 227 Sterling Place, Brooklyn, told this newspaper:
He’s Mum
“I don’t think it proper for me to give any information. That is being handled by my supervisors at the Board of Education. These allegations have been made. The school’s reputation and my reputation are at stake here. I cannot say anything.”
The Amsterdam News learned that Zuber will charge:
- That when the weather is clear PS 614 ‘students are given pails. brushes, rags and car polish, and sent out to the school parking lot and told to wash teachers’ cars.
- That since the beginning of school in September students are told at the end of selected school days to wear their work clothes to school the following day.
- That on the day when students show up in their work clothes they are turned over to the school custodian who puts them to work sweeping and cleaning the school building, while he takes time off.
- That for washing cars, students are paid ten subway tokens by school officials.
- That students are told to keep their shoe shine boxes nearby and that during the school day teachers, who want their shoes shined, send for what they call, “The Shoe Shine Boy.”
- That teachers have been known to tell backward students to “stay home and relax so that we can have a rest too.”
- That more than $500 of tax-payers’ money has been mishandled by school officials in paying students 10 tokens for their services.
175 Boys
A dilapidated, run-down red brick building, originally built for elementary school children. Public School 614 is located at 227 Sterling Place in Brooklyn. It houses 175 boys between the ages of 15 and 18 who are considered too socially maladjusted and emotionally disturbed to be in regular schools.
The Thursday investigation was triggered by Attorney Paul B. Zuber, militant Harlem lawyer. Friday when he requested the Kings County District Attorney to have a grand jury investigation of his charges.
Charges to Gross
Armed with affidavits signed by parents and teachers, Zuber said that more than a week ago, he presented the allegations to School Superintendent Calvin E. Gross.
“Dr. Gross saw fit to ignore the charges and showed me that he was not interested so I decided to use other means of stopping this abuse of students and flagrant violation of the penal code.” Zuber told this newspaper.
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