<p>I am speechless at how low some people can go. This is pathetic.</p>
<p>"TRENTON, N.J. (AP) – A former Camden elementary school principal and his top aide were indicted Monday on charges that they tricked parents and students in the nation’s poorest city into paying for outings that were financed by the school district, then kept the thousands of dollars they collected…</p>
<p>Authorities say the ex-principal of H.B. Wilson Elementary School and the top staffer pocketed more than $14,000 - collected in increments as small as $5 - to fund trips to such destinations as the Philadelphia Zoo, Storybook Land and an American Indian reservation.</p>
<p>Teachers helped pupils raise money by holding fundraisers, and some teachers reached into their own pockets to pay for pupils whose parents could not afford bus fees and other costs.</p>
<p>According to census data, Camden is the nation’s most impoverished city, with a median household income of just $18,000…</p>
<p>Bart Leff, a spokesman for the Camden Board of Education, said the school board learned of the alleged wrongdoing last year when parents came to the board to complain that their children were being left home from field trips because they could not afford to pay."</p>
<p>(The rich people may be thieves… but the rest of the world might just be more honest than you thought. The students dropped wallets all over Manhattan; the wallets were stolen on the upper East side, but returned every time when found by denizens of Harlem.)</p>
<p>I think there is a law in NJ, and I know there is certainly a procedure in many NJ districts, that requires that no student be left out of a field trip because of inability to pay. A student who cannot bring in field trip money has the cost covered by the district. It is a shame that a very poor community should have been victimized in this way, and paradoxical when one considers that many teachers and administrators in inner-city districts are people who grew up in the community and went on to education and professional achievement and are presumably role models for the communities in which they serve. </p>
<p>I am not familiar with this specific Camden case so don’t know if the perpetrators are in fact local or not, but it certainly points up the need for vigilance on the part of parents and and supervision on the part of local and state authorities. This is not the first time that there have been reports of malfeasance among employees of the Camden schools and it certainly should not come as news to the Camden School Board that it needs to keep on top of things in and out of the classroom.</p>
<p>What constitutes a field trip? Would a graduation trip in middle school or the 12th grade count? How about trips through the foriegn language department (ie: Spain, Italy, Martinique)? Where would one draw the line? How about to a Broadway show in NYC? I know that parents in our community pay the full freight. There are some fund raising options, but not many.</p>
<p>Calmom, I can proudly say that my son lost his wallet on a public bus. Everything, and every dime was returned to him. The person who found his wallet contacted him immediately so that he would not worry! We thought that this was a miracle and more typical in a rural community. I was so wrong according to those links.</p>
<p>I’ve written this before, but my S lost his wallet in Port Authority Bus Terminal in NYC, and the person who found it brought it to our town on a bus and returned it, money and all.</p>
<p>Good questions, NEM. There are definitely limits. Maybe the school day field trips, but I don’t think anything more extensive gets paid for.</p>
<p>When my S was in the band, they went on a three/four day trip every year and did fundraisers for it. It was very cheap but not free if you participated. However, one year there was an error with the prices and they had to ask an extra larger amount than had been expected from each student. The band director was distraught over this. We told him confidentially to let us know if any kid couldn’t come because of the added amount, and that we would cover it anonymously so as not to embarrass anyone. It only turned out to be one kid, but we esteemed the BD so highly we would have gone as far as necessary to help him fix this.</p>
<p>garland, Our 3/4 night trips (by bus) have run anywhere from about $500-800! I always wondered how these trips were board approved b/c of price, but I guess that they are approved. Often, families send more than one child on these in one school year (not necessarily in the same grade), and it gets soooo out of hand! Garland, it is so kind of your family to offer cover some funds. I know that our schools do have contributions for the kid who cannot afford the school sweatshirt/t-shirt, but I think that it stops there. I saw that quite a few students sit out on the 3-4 day bus trips. Fundraising events involving the kids I noticed have been waning during the past decade. I guess that schools don’t want to assume possible risks. I noticed that there has been an increase in parents raising funds for the kids, but the amounts raised have really been a drop in the bucket.</p>
<p>Stories like this (from the OP, not the nice wallet returning ones) make me thank God I’m a lapsed Catholic - I pray there’s a hell, because some people just need to take a ‘time out’ and think about what they’ve done. Unconscionable.</p>
<p>H. has twice lost wallet in Manhattan; twice mailed back. Not missing a dime. </p>
<p>“Unregistered” is right - we need more information. It might, for example, be a heavily Republican neighborhood, but it would be wrong to conclude that Republicans are dishonest, right? Although I think it’s safe to say Harlem is probably Democratic.</p>
<p>NEM–I come from a mostly middle class, blue collar community–in other words, the masters of fundraising. The Music Association runs two huge fundraisers–a fruit sale and a Band Festival. Of course, parents do a lot of organizing, but the kids also do a ton of work. Fruit sale day is a phenomenon–kids on the truck unloading tons and tons of grapefruit and oranges, then the next day delivering to cars as they come to pick up. And the band festival is big fun, too. The kids work their tails off all day before putting on their show at the end. I did the Airgrams booth for eight straight years (two kids) and really had a good time, but the most fun was working with the kids.</p>
<p>I thought New jersey funded their schools at a higher rate than any district in the country- this latest case seems to be just one more instance of adults not only stealing money from kids, but their opportunity for an education</p>
<p>We do, at least the rich school districts and the, I think, 31 poorest, which must be funded to the level of the richest by law. And Camden is one of them. But we also have corruption at a higher rate, apparently… :(</p>
<p>When I was in college, I left my camera in a cab in NYC on my way to the airport for a two month treck in Europe. I called the cab co. from the airport to report my missing camera and gave the person on the line all my pertinent info. (name and address in Texas, etc.) I never thought I’d see my camera again (I did not know the name of the cabdriver or his cab #). Lo and behold, when I got back to my parents’ home in Texas, my camera was waiting for me!(Unfortunately, with no pictures of my Europe trip on the film!! )</p>
<p>there is a mingling of different programs and issues here. If I understand correctly, there is a big difference between an optional Band Trip, which usually is overnight and involves both a competition and a fun adventure. (disneyworld!) Those are supported by kids doing sales. In our district 50% of the funds raised by a student are put in a bank account for that child only-or sibling if it rolls over at graduation.
A field trip, on the other hand, is a classroom trip where all the kids are going, is educational and usually a day trip. I am unsure of overnight “graduation” trips, which in our area are 8th grade trip.
There is aways corruption and theft when large amounts of federal dollars are funneled into a program, a purchase or whatever.
A federal provider getting exclusive contracts, a stadium complex being built or a daycare program director taking advantage.
The actions of these Camden folks are evil. they are most likely trivial compared to the hard core, big time white collar crime in EVERY state.</p>
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