Vol. 71/No. 17      April 30, 2007

On their return from the 10-day trip, the group, from Manhattan’s Beacon High School, was reportedly stopped by customs agents and may face steep fines for traveling to Cuba, allegedly violating U.S. travel restrictions to the Caribbean nation.

The New York Post sparked a controversy over the trip, running a front-page banner headline in its April 16 issue, which read, “Club Red: West Side school in illegal Fidel trip.” The New York mayor and officials at the city Department of Education then spoke in opposition to it.

At the school here on Manhattan’s Upper West Side, however, the majority of students and teachers interviewed today voiced support for the right to travel to Cuba and backed history teacher Nathan Turner, who accompanied the students to Cuba and now faces the brunt of the attack.

“People should have the right to travel to Cuba,” said Kyle, a senior at the school who asked that he be identified only by his first name. “I think he’s a great teacher,” he said of Turner. In addition to trips to Cuba, Turner has organized six trips to New Orleans, Kyle said, to help with the rebuilding in the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina.

“I’m the biggest capitalist ever and I support him,” said Cookie Muller, another student. “He’s the best teacher I’ve ever had.”

One student who participated in the trip said she wanted very much to speak to the Militant to show how positive the experience was. But she did not wish to contravene the wishes of the school that students not talk to the media about this matter. A number of other students declined interviews on the same grounds.

The school has organized a number of trips to Cuba in the past. But as Washington has tightened its restrictions on travel to Cuba, it has become more difficult.

This time the city’s Board of Education tried to block the trip. “It should not have happened,” Schools Chancellor Joel Klein, told the press. “We expressly said no.”

According to the New York Sun, Department of Education official David Cantor said an investigation by the department could result in Turner’s firing.

The president of the United Federation of Teachers, Randi Weingarten, has come out in Turner’s defense. “The teacher apparently did everything in his power to make sure the parents and students were informed that the school did not sanction the trip,” she told the press. “This teacher was willing to give of his free time and expertise to further the education of his students and, if he took them anywhere but Cuba, he would be applauded.”
 
 
Related articles:
No fines! End travel ban to Cuba!
 
 
 
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