Think about this, nearly 30,000 students in one school district, getting their meals paid for by 3rd parties whom have no choice in the matter, are upset because they don't like it.
As for the argument that 'we have a responsibility to our neighbors' ... I agree, but that is not fulfilled by forcibly separating people from their property via confiscatory taxes. And as 90% of the money is state and federal, it's tough to make the argument that taxpayers in Delaware and Hawaii are the 'neighbors' of Rochester, NY school-children.
As an aside, is anyone preventing any of the parents of these children from bringing their own lunch that they find more appealing every day?
[See the video these kids made when they weren't learning science, reading, or math.]
I believe it.
"Rochester School Board President Malik Evans, a product of Rochester public schools ..."
Rally to protest Rochester schools' food - democratandchronicle.com - Democrat and Chronicle: "In the lunchroom at School 28 in Rochester, a girl pokes a congealed dollop of something green with a plastic fork, a boy on the verge of tears complains the food is inedible, and tinfoil trays filled with uneaten food spill into a trash can. They are images in Lunch is Gross! a documentary produced by students at the northeast city school whose title is the battle cry for a rally Thursday outside the Rochester School District headquarters. The goal: Improving school food. Organizers claim several hundred people have signed a petition calling for healthier cafeteria fare, and expect the demonstration to draw a couple hundred people, including parents, healthy food advocates and the third-grade students who created the video for a class project.
...
School food is a time-tested punch line for unappetizing jokes about mystery meat and gruel. But it is no laughing matter for the nearly 29,500 Rochester public school students who are eligible for free- and reduced-price meals.
...
This year, the district budgeted $13 million to feed students, about 90 percent of which is reimbursed by the state and federal governments, according to the district."
Tuesday, March 24, 2009
Rochester School Lunches: A Well-Examined Gift Horse
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
Support The Amateur Econ. Blog
1 comments:
I take exception to your insinuation that the class wasn't learning and instead producing the documentary. The children's video was comprised of authentic reading, writing, math, social studies and science lessons. Every one of the children involved in making this documentary PASSED the NY State assessments, unlike their peers in their school and district. If economics is really your thing, then perhaps you should think of the long view. These kids will be participatory democratic citizens; they have learned to think and speak up for themselves in appropriate ways. They will not be a drain on the system.
Post a Comment