I am sure there is some collateral damage. I am willing to wager that you could find a few students who got the free food who actually did bring in money for the school system, but we look at statistics, not individual performance. Sort of like the teacher's union.
Everyday People Examiner: Cheese sandwiches for students whose parents are poor:
"The Albuquerque Public Schools system is not alone in their cheese sandwich lunch plan for children who do not have their lunch money. Reportedly, school districts in Chula Vista, California, Hillsborough County, Florida., and Lynnwood, Washington, have a 'cheese sandwich policy' in place."
Kids sure have a funny way of thinking. Somehow they seem to know who gets a free lunch and who doesn't, despite how professional the school personnel act in keeping student information protected. Just like kids know which kids are in the ESE classes. Maybe it's because ESE kids have different colored name tags, have a big sign on their bus that says "Alternative School", or even that little blue sign with the wheelchair on it. Kids just seem to know.
So, we have a group of kids eating together as a diversified unit, and the kids with the free lunch seem to have the most jewelry, most expensive clothes and the latest technology. The kids who pay for their lunch go home and tell their parents that they want this stuff too. After a few years of this, parents start to have a funny way of thinking, too.
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"Just like every other aspect of the public school system, if you don't perform, your compensation package is cut."
God forbid we actually teach parents that money doesn't grow on trees and yes, in the real world, strategies that don't work are cut. Now we are called to feed kids as well as instill morals. Just what are parents responsible for doing? rules. If parents cant perform their responsibilities put the kids in foster care and spend the lunch money beefing up the foster care system.
I would like to see it (accountability) expressed in out of school suspensions for chronic misbehaving children who come to us from poorly performing parents. Let them pay for a baby sitter, if they cant teach their kids civil behavior. The vast majority of well behaved students suffer when a teacher has to stop instruction and deal with disruptive kids.
Richard, who speaks from them?
Not a particularly politically correct observation but one held by an increasing number of my collegues.
"The vast majority of well behaved students suffer when a teacher has to stop instruction and deal with disruptive kids.
Richard, who speaks from them?"
I will assume that the question is "...who speaks for them?"
My initial reaction is the parents who complain to the teacher or principal.
My experience is that this course of action is then turned around onto the complaining student. The school administrators make sure they point out that the complaining student is responsible for themselves and not the other students. The school administrators make sure to point out that the complaining student will have to learn how to cope with these types of situations in life and the complaining student has to learn to get along with others and accept diversity. The parent of the complaining student is admonished for coddling their child. The school administrators make sure the family knows that the school system deals with all issues in a professional manner.
The result is that the well behaved students and their parents withdraw from the public school setting, one way or another. Some parents become troublemakers. Some parents place their kids in private schools.
Some students accept the premise that if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, so the end result is more disruptive kids.
As far as free food, don't forget that it was the school board's decision to start the free lunch/free breakfast program in the first place. Typical behavior of a government program. Develop dependence, withdraw the resources and then blame the public for being dependent and irresponsible.
Advocates from all sides are used to their concerns falling on deaf ears.
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