Parents Criticized After Bidding On Their Children's Teachers During An Auction

People are in an uproar after discovering parents participated in an auction in Oregon to determine who would teach their child in the following school year.

Markham Elementary School, located in Portland, held the PTA fundraiser auction in early March. A parent initially came up with the idea to bid on who would teach their child during the next school year. The auction raised $52,000, with $1,300 coming from six parents who bid on a teacher, reports the Daily Mail.

“This is obviously a horrible lapse in judgment and just outrageous to everyone,” Portland Association of Teachers President Suzanne Cohen told NBC affiliate KGW8. “It felt really offensive. It felt really hurtful. It really undermined [the teachers], I mean you put teachers under an auctioning block like that’s really disgusting.”

Portland Public Schools spokesman Harry Esteve also released a statement about how they tried to handle the issue.

“The principal realizes that she made a spur-of-the-moment mistake by agreeing to a request to allow families to bid on specific teachers for their students, and she has apologized to her staff,” Esteve said. “The PTA, which hosted the auction, also has apologized and returned the money.”