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Home > I got riled

I got riled

February 28th, 2019 at 03:41 pm

As a retiree, fortunately I can now express my opinion with little retaliation.

Last Tuesday was a school board meeting for the district from where I retired. The district is at 66% poverty rate with some individual schools having some even higher levels. At this meeting, the issue of reapplying for the grant to give every student free breakfast and free lunch came up. One of the board members said she didn't think they should because it doesn't give the district a positive image.

OK, I'm not going to talk politics here as far as entitlement programs and stuff. But having worked in high poverty schools for over 30 years, children cannot control what their parents do. There should not be an issue with feeding kids just because being poor might have a negative connotation.

I commented on the article on the newspaper's Facebook page and I had some current teachers inbox me to thank me because they were shocked at the comment, but didn't want to comment for fear of retaliation. So, I decided to write a letter to the editor pointing out the data for the district and if this board member is unaware of it, perhaps she should either study the data or resign. Egad.

I guess part of this is fueled by a local case where a 2 year old was starved and froze to death in a home while her mother and boyfriend let her. Kids should not go hungry because their parents are jerks.

And school board members should know their population.

Sorry for the rant.

Posted in Education | 12 Comments »

12 Responses to “I got riled”

  1. NJDebbie Says:
    February 28th, 2019 at 04:08 pm 1551370121
    1551370121

    Often times, board members have hidden agendas. I've known good teachers who have lost their jobs because they refuse to alter bad grades from children whose parent are BOE members.

  2. CB in the City Says:
    February 28th, 2019 at 05:31 pm 1551375073
    1551375073

    I saw a news story about a study purporting that children who get free breakfast at school are at greater risk for obesity than those who don't. It unsettled me, because I'm afraid that's going to be used as an excuse to eliminate free breakfasts. As if the fear of obesity is a bigger problem than children going hungry. You're right; school board members tend to be conservative and do not see or understand the realities of poverty.

  3. Petunia 100 Says:
    February 28th, 2019 at 05:31 pm 1551375105
    1551375105

    What a ridiculous comment. As if a "positive image" is more important than children having adequate food.

  4. creditcardfree Says:
    February 28th, 2019 at 06:20 pm 1551378006
    1551378006

    And it was about applying for a grant...not even out of the boards own funds! That is very sad. Have you considered calling the BOE directly? Those students need a voice. You along with the other teachers are that voice.

  5. rob62521 Says:
    February 28th, 2019 at 07:20 pm 1551381652
    1551381652

    Those of you commented about hidden agendas, amen. I do think this particular board member has one and I also think she does not understand children in poverty since she comes from an affluent family.

  6. alliecat79 Says:
    February 28th, 2019 at 07:53 pm 1551383612
    1551383612

    Agreed. Students should NEVER suffer. I am in awe at our politicians who do not also see it this way. They are fine with not supplying appropriate funding to districts who are more in need (in Illinois we are local tax based for majority of education funding).

  7. MonkeyMama Says:
    February 28th, 2019 at 08:12 pm 1551384767
    1551384767

    Ugh!

    I feel very blessed to live in a community where kids are given free food. It's such a problem here that lunch is provided free all summer, no questions asked. The teachers and school admins know that the kids go hungry otherwise.

  8. Rose. Says:
    February 28th, 2019 at 08:15 pm 1551384913
    1551384913

    How frustrating. The negative connotation of making sure children don't go hungry...

  9. starfishy Says:
    March 1st, 2019 at 02:10 am 1551406254
    1551406254

    wow, that's appalling. thank you for speaking up.

  10. LuckyRobin Says:
    March 1st, 2019 at 02:16 am 1551406591
    1551406591

    Sounds like that board member needs to be replaced ASAP.

  11. PatientSaver Says:
    March 1st, 2019 at 11:28 pm 1551482901
    1551482901

    Good for you. So glad you spoke up.

  12. rob62521 Says:
    March 3rd, 2019 at 09:40 pm 1551649253
    1551649253

    I wrote a letter to the editor. It is online right now and hopefully will be printed soon. I know the comments online for the FB post have gone along with what I said. Here is the online letter if you are interested:

    https://herald-review.com/opinion/letters/letter-nolan-s-concerns-are-in-the-wrong-place/article_28386c0c-580e-5bef-9aaa-4cb90fdbbe34.html

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