I may be the only person in America who hasn't seen Hamilton, but I know it's supposed to be a wonderful experience. And I'm sure I would enjoy seeing it. I like history. I like musicals. Especially if someone gave me a free ticket.
So who could blame those two Boston Public Schools principals for grabbing a few when someone donated 14 tickets (12 for students, 2 for chaperones) to the Tobin School?
Actually, much as I might have liked being given a freebie to Hamilton, I'm going to put it right out there and say I blame then.
Here's what happened:
Back in 2023, the assistant principal at the Maurice Tobin School in Roxbury got an email from the Boston Education Development Fund, a non-profit that works doing good things for the Boston Public Schools, informing her that some group had donated the tickets. Would the Tobin like them? Why yes, yes, they would.
And more the luck, when showtime rolled around and one of the Tobin students who'd been handpicked for the honor wasn't able to go, that "extra" ticket went to the principal's son.
Now, by 2023, Hamilton was no longer the "it" show it had been in 2015 when it opened, when Lin Manuel Miranda was strutting his stuff on stage, and when tickets were impossible to get and wicked pricey. (The seats donated to the Tobin were face-valued at $149.) But I suspect it still would have been a treat for some lucky kiddos at the Tobin School, and for a couple of teachers who would have leapt at the chance to chaperone.
I don't know much about the Boston Public Schools, other than knowing that the system is majorly majority minority. While the white population of Boston is in the low 40%'s, the school system is about 80% minority. And Roxbury, where the Tobin school is located, is not exactly an affluent part of the city.
I'm sure there were plenty of kiddos in the Tobin school whose parents don't pull down the salary of the principal ($165+) or assistant principal ($140-ish). I realize that those salaries aren't astronomical, especially if you live in a high-cost city like Boston. It's still more than the average parent of a Tobin school student earns.
A couple of things are really galling about this, and one is that none of the three children of the principal and assistant principal goes to the Tobin School. Hell, the three of them aren't students in the Boston Public Schools at all. Sheesh! (I also saw that a couple of these kids had already seen Hamilton a few weeks before and were thrilled to go again. The reason I'm not using names in this post is that I couldn't find the article that said these kids had seen the show.)
Another weirdly galling thing is that the assistant principal apparently asked a senior person in the Boston Education Development Fund whether it was okey-dokey for her to take a couple of tickets for her sons and was told sure, no problem. So, she had some sense that taking the tickets might be a problem, and the numbskill at the Fund shrugged it off.
Not to mention that the principal, who maybe should have steered their colleague in a direction away from self-dealing, had no issue taking tickets.
A real leader would have made sure those chaperone tickets went to teachers, and that those student tickets went to Tobin students.
I get that you'd do anything for your children, and that charity begins at home, but this seems pretty shoddy, pretty unprincipled.
And the Massachusetts State Ethics Commission agrees. Both the principal (who coincidentally/non-coincidentally is no longer at the Tobin School) and the assistant principal had to pay a $4,000 fine. Pretty hefty when held up besides a couple of $149 tickets.
Hope they enjoyed the show!
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Info source for this post: Boston Globe
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