So Nice! School district pays 11-year-old $6,500 for keynote speech

A New York school district paid $6,500 plus expenses to 11-year-old child advocate, Marley Dias, for serving as keynote speaker for staff and hosting a student workshop last week. The Poughkeepsie City School District hired Dias to speak during the superintendent's conference day last Tuesday.

Dias, a girl from West Orange, New Jersey, created the popular #1000BlackGirlBooks campaign to draw attention to the lack of racial diversity in children's literature.

She gave an hour-long speech to staff before leaving an hour and a half-long workshop for 50 students.

Superintendent Nicole Williams said at Wednesday's meeting that Dias' resume is "tremendous" and the district shouldn't discriminate because she's 11 years old. Dias was paid through funding from a federal education program

[The Poughkeepsie Journal]