I am sick and tired of the public school system being used as the state's welfare system. Why is it a school's responsibility to feed our children? We all know breakfast is the most important meal of the day. Without it, it becomes difficult to focus on the most basic tasks. It is true for those of us in the work world and it is true for our kids in school.
My employer, the Hemet Unified School District, does not make sure I eat a nutritious breakfast each day. However, like all other school districts in California, they willingly feed our children. Why? When it comes right down to it, it is all about test scores. Hungry students do not score as well on standardized test as students who are well fed. Based on the girth of or school children, we should have the smartest students in the world but do not come close.
I resent seeing my tax money used to feed our children simply because we have allowed the dysfunctional to continually procreate. And believe me, we have far too many dysfunctional adults pumping out dysfunctional children.
This has nothing to do with living in a low income area. I have seen countless students from low income homes arrive to school fed and focused on learning to think this is a poverty issue. It is not about poverty as much as it is about our priorities. If you can have a kid then you better be able to feed him three square meals a day. If not, you are dysfunctional and have no business raising children.
I admit, I grew up in an affluent community. My parents also raised eight children. We all got up early enough and did not leave the house without having eaten our breakfast. We also arrived to school on time and knew if we could not meet these simple expectations, the privileges of the day were not ours to enjoy. It does not take money to understand and value these concepts. Unfortunately, today we have too many parents unable or unwilling to model these behaviors to their children.
If you are a teen aged parent, chances are you are dysfunctional. If you are a parent living off of the welfare system, chances are you are a dysfunctional parent. If you work and commute such ungodly hours that you rely on schools to raise your kids, you are a dysfunctional parent. And if you can make sure your little Johnny has a new pair of soccer cleats but can't get him to school on time, you are a dysfunctional parent. Quit having kids! Please, I can not afford to raise them anymore.
One school recently reported feeding 911 students free breakfast; over 80 percent of which were delivered to their classroom by student volunteers. At a cost of $1.25 per breakfast, this works out to almost 200 thousand dollars a year. In other words, they pay the equivalent of four teacher salaries to feed students. What economic sense does this make? At a time we are laying off functional tax paying teachers, we are feeding children who will in too many cases become dysfunctional adults like their parents and be unable to hold down a job.
I read a quote from one parent who said, "My son would rather have slept in late than eat a meal." Fine, let him. See how long he makes this choice once he realizes no one cares if he chooses to go hungry. He may change his priorities but do not expect me, and other tax payers, to feed his sleepy butt.
Democracy and welfare do not go well together. To be a democratic state requires citizens to actively participate in the decision making process and accept the will of the majority. In a welfare state, you decide what level of life you want to exist at and rely on hard working tax payers to pay for the rest. It is time to return to a state of democracy and end these ridiculous programs before they turn hard working tax payers like me into welfare recipients because we no longer can afford to meet our own needs after we have paid to meet the needs of others.
My employer, the Hemet Unified School District, does not make sure I eat a nutritious breakfast each day. However, like all other school districts in California, they willingly feed our children. Why? When it comes right down to it, it is all about test scores. Hungry students do not score as well on standardized test as students who are well fed. Based on the girth of or school children, we should have the smartest students in the world but do not come close.
I resent seeing my tax money used to feed our children simply because we have allowed the dysfunctional to continually procreate. And believe me, we have far too many dysfunctional adults pumping out dysfunctional children.
This has nothing to do with living in a low income area. I have seen countless students from low income homes arrive to school fed and focused on learning to think this is a poverty issue. It is not about poverty as much as it is about our priorities. If you can have a kid then you better be able to feed him three square meals a day. If not, you are dysfunctional and have no business raising children.
I admit, I grew up in an affluent community. My parents also raised eight children. We all got up early enough and did not leave the house without having eaten our breakfast. We also arrived to school on time and knew if we could not meet these simple expectations, the privileges of the day were not ours to enjoy. It does not take money to understand and value these concepts. Unfortunately, today we have too many parents unable or unwilling to model these behaviors to their children.
If you are a teen aged parent, chances are you are dysfunctional. If you are a parent living off of the welfare system, chances are you are a dysfunctional parent. If you work and commute such ungodly hours that you rely on schools to raise your kids, you are a dysfunctional parent. And if you can make sure your little Johnny has a new pair of soccer cleats but can't get him to school on time, you are a dysfunctional parent. Quit having kids! Please, I can not afford to raise them anymore.
One school recently reported feeding 911 students free breakfast; over 80 percent of which were delivered to their classroom by student volunteers. At a cost of $1.25 per breakfast, this works out to almost 200 thousand dollars a year. In other words, they pay the equivalent of four teacher salaries to feed students. What economic sense does this make? At a time we are laying off functional tax paying teachers, we are feeding children who will in too many cases become dysfunctional adults like their parents and be unable to hold down a job.
I read a quote from one parent who said, "My son would rather have slept in late than eat a meal." Fine, let him. See how long he makes this choice once he realizes no one cares if he chooses to go hungry. He may change his priorities but do not expect me, and other tax payers, to feed his sleepy butt.
Democracy and welfare do not go well together. To be a democratic state requires citizens to actively participate in the decision making process and accept the will of the majority. In a welfare state, you decide what level of life you want to exist at and rely on hard working tax payers to pay for the rest. It is time to return to a state of democracy and end these ridiculous programs before they turn hard working tax payers like me into welfare recipients because we no longer can afford to meet our own needs after we have paid to meet the needs of others.
1 comment:
Excellent writing. It should be posted nationwide. Where does all this money come from? It should be put to use for EDUCATION!!!!
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