Parents are paying big bucks for prime seats at public-school graduations 

(abstracted from the Seattle Times) Seattle schools and PTAs are auctioning  off prime seats for graduation ceremonies.  The best seats in the house are close to the stage,  The  unobstructed views are perfect for yelling best wishes  or  taking photos showing the ohso proud parents with their off spring.

The schools and PTAs use the money to cover the costs of the graduation ceremonies or to buy stuff for the school. But the effect on the kids is, well, problematic.

Tami Hance, a parent at Mount Si High in Snoqualmie, says the teachers at Mount Si  “have fostered hard work and excellence ….  teaching (the kids) that education is the great equalizer. Then, on the day we celebrate their achievements, we show them that it doesn’t really matter how hard you work because the rich families are going to get the best seats and the rest can sit behind them.”

Four Seattle families at Arbor Heights Elementary each paid $225 for a block of four front-row seats at a kindergarten graduation and a fifth-grade graduation.  Arbor Heights parents who organized the auction said those who question the practice aren’t looking at the bigger picture. The funds, they said, will go toward field trips, playground equipment and an instrumental music program.

The  booster club at Shorecrest High in Shoreline auctioned off four front-row seats for the “Caen Laida” — a year-end assembly for seniors — and seats to the school’s Homecoming assembly, held in October. This year, the winning bidder for the senior assembly paid $500.