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Claim Teachers Used Pupils As Shoe Shine Boys: DA Calls Charges “Serious”
Caption: An Amsterdam News article about the “600” schools details abusive behavior by teachers and lack of educational programming at the school.
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In late 1963, The Amsterdam News reported on allegations that teachers and administrators at PS 614 in Brooklyn, one of the city’s “600” schools. The teachers being investigated allegedly pocketed over 40,000 subway tokens meant for students. Instead of handing the tokens out, students were forced to perform menial tasks like washing cars or shining shoes to earn the tokens back. Not only were students being mistreated, they were being denied education. The school’s principal and administrators didn’t offer any information at the time but were later reassigned to a different school.
Paul Zuber, an attorney who helped bring segregation and poor conditions at the “600” schools to light, also represented Mae Mallory and other parents in the Harlem Nine boycott. [internal link to Mae Mallory document set]
Categories: K-12-education, special-education, Brooklyn,
Tags: segregation, student achievement, curriculum, teacher quality, newspapers & the media, Black people, Latinx people, disability labels,
Date: Dec 7, 1963
Creator: Amsterdam News via Proquest
Source: Amsterdam News via Proquest
Copyright: Amsterdam News
How to cite: “Claim Teachers Used Pupils As Shoe Shine Boys: DA Calls Charges ‘Serious,’” in New York City Civil Rights History Project, Accessed: [Month Day, Year], https://nyccivilrightshistory.org/topics/boycotting-ny-schools/1965-boycott/shoe-shine-boys.
- What adjectives does the newspaper article use to describe students at PS 614? How do you think students at the school would have felt about that language?
- What are the consequences, for students, of having their time in school used on tasks like cleaning the school and washing cars?
- How did information about what was happening at PS 614 come to light?