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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsThousands of Oakland school children won't be getting meals due to budget cuts
By: Jana Katsuyama POSTED: SEP 01 2018 11:13AM PDT
The school district says due to budget constraints the board voted to eliminate the supper program this year. Some parents didn't learn about the change until school started and are calling for the district to try and find funds or donations to bring the program back. Oakland school sports had also been on the chopping block, but this week an anonymous donor and the Oakland Raiders ponied up nearly $300,000 to save them.
As of Friday, no one has stepped up to save the meal program.
http://www.ktvu.com/news/thousands-of-oakland-school-children-won-t-be-getting-meals-due-to-budget-cuts
CaliforniaPeggy
(149,726 posts)Igel
(35,362 posts)Their priorities are school before feeding the kids after school.
A specific donor (or group of donors) and an athletics franchise have athletics as a higher priority than feeding kids what's likely their third school meal of the day. Go figure, there's diversity in values systems. But it's their money and they can use it as they see fit; there was no obligation for them to pony up the dollars for anything.
It's unclear what the school board would have done, privileged sports or supper. Note that while the suppers are great and both take a burden off the parents in terms of time and money, the athletics programs program do more good for specific students. I suspect that in some cases it doesn't take a burden off the parents, but compensates for what they wouldn't be doing anyway.
I know kids whose entire motivation for going to school is sports. And when they graduate, what pays their way to college is continuing the sports they played in high school. One kid (in another teacher's class) was suspended from school and consequently yanked from the football team. He appealed, and when the punishment was pronounced final--he wouldn't be in sports his senior year--he withdrew. It's the reason he put up with classes, it was his ticket to college, and he only really did well in class when the coaches were after him or when sports were on the line. I resent all the money spent on sports when there are other classroom needs; I was the typical nerd in high school, my life was and is a sports-free zone. So I am greatly displeased it when the athletes get special treatment when they do wrong, but at the same time I'd rather they do some things that violate the school code and graduate than be disciplined, dropped from the team, and then become drop-outs. I figure it's an imperfect universe.
But the Raiders would see that end of the day-care-to-workforce pipeline, not the "I'm hungry and won't get it at home" end.
CatMor
(6,212 posts)there is money to fly trump everywhere to play golf but nothing to feed children. Feeding the children and the hungry should be a priority in this country.
Millions for Trump's damn golf games, screw kids let em starve!