Review: Abbott Elementary, "Fundraiser" | Season 2, Episode 13
Abbott’s latest moral dilemma doesn’t quite hit the mark
Every week, there’s plenty to appreciate about seeing the students and teachers of Abbott Elementary thrive and succeed. But that success often comes with the acknowledgment that it’s happening in the face of issues like parents refusing to accept that their child has a learning disability, or the school district not offering any type of assistance unless everything is completely broken first, or a charter school magnate who sees any of Abbott’s successes as something that happens in spite of the teachers’ work. Abbott’s struggles with finances are deeply ingrained in Abbott Elementary, so a school fundraiser is an obvious plot for the series to tackle.
Abbott Elementary comes at this fundraiser (selling candy to raise funds for a school field trip to the Franklin Institute) the way you’d expect: with two differing ideologies at work. Barbara’s ideology is seemingly “old school,” getting right down to brass tacks, while Ava’s involves a lot of flash, pizzazz, and lying—or “sc…
