Wake County teacher upset after being told she can't attend innovation and leadership event
RALEIGH (WTVD) -- A Wake County teacher is upset after she says her tickets to a free event were rescinded after being told she already had a spot secured.
Teacher Kim Mackey thought she was invited to an Innovation and Leadership Dinner, which is taking place at the Raleigh Convention Center on Feb. 19.
She was able to secure a free ticket through Eventbrite.
She said she ordered a ticket online and received a response back that said, "Kim, you're good to go. Keep your ticket handy."
But a couple weeks after being approved, Johnson sent her an email explaining the event is at capacity and she couldn't attend.
"It was confusing, it was frustrating," she told ABC11.
Upset by the email, Mackey responded.
Her reply read in part: "In your letter rescinding my ticket, you mentioned that you are 'at capacity.' I can assure you that as someone who ends my day with a class of 34 seniors in a trailer classroom, I am accustomed to tight spaces. If you wish to spare me from the discomfort of an overcrowded room, I deal with it all day at work so a few hours one evening in a convention center sized-room is no sweat. I will bear any crowd to hear you announce that the state will invest in constructing more brick and mortar classrooms with lower class sizes to foster the development of our students."
A spokesperson for the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction said the event was always invite-only, and the link to the Eventbrite wasn't supposed to be sent out to those who weren't invited.
"We have 117,000 certified educators in the state and obviously we can't fit everybody in one room," spokesperson Drew Elliott said.
The event on Eventbrite now states, "Due to space limitations, this is an invitation-only event. Please only register if you received an invitation directly either by mail or email."
Since Mackey's social media post, an invited attendee has agreed to give up their seat to allow Mackey to attend in their place.
