Letter to the Senate

Letter to the Senate on S. Con. Res.11

NEA (National Education Association), Mary Kusler Director of Government Relations, Published March 24, 2015.  http://www.nea.org/home/62409.htm

Key points:

• Three million members of the National Education Association (NEA) formed a letter stating why they disagree with the FY16 budget resolution written by S. Con. Res. 11 and why they should vote no.

Trying to Change School Diets

Jamie Oliver on Jimmy Kimmel Live (http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=u4OC1a2JSS4)
April 26th, 2011

Summary: An short and interesting video of Jamie Oliver talking with Jimmy Kimmel about school lunches and attempting to make a change.

Key Points: 1) US school food is terrible for our students, 2) We need to make a change

Relevance: It is good to see the food revolution coming to our schools. The class I observe at Cleveland High School watched Food, Inc. a few weeks ago. It is really great to see this sort of education make its way into public schools.

Unpaid Lunch Fees = More Budget Cuts for NYC

“Schools Facing Cuts if Lunches Aren’t Paid For” by Fernanda Santos
New York Times, February 8, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/09/education/09lunches.html?pagewanted=1&ref=education

Topic: Unpaid school lunch fees threaten New York City public schools’ budgets.

Summary: With millions of dollars owed to New York City’s Education Department for meals served to students, the department has threated that money owed will be docked from school’s budgets to settle the debt. According to the article, “the city has absorbed at least $42 million in unpaid lunch fees” since 2004. However, with recent budget cuts, this is something the department can no longer afford to let slide. It has created a situation where principals are becoming debt collectors for parents who can’t afford school lunch fees (regular price: $1.50/lunch and reduced price: 25 cents/lunch). Even though most parents only owe between $20-$30, collectively, $2.5 million is owed for the first three months of the school year!

Intended audience: General Public

Key Points:

• Many people owe money to the schools for unpaid lunch fees. “Economic troubles have forced parents into delinquency”. Some of these families qualify for free lunch, but have not turned in eligibility forms.
• If owed money is not paid to the Education Department, schools budgets will be docked the amount owed.
• This is a problem many schools/districts around the Nation are facing. Some schools have a policy that students owing money do not receive the same school lunch as others.

Relevance: This article ties slightly into one I posted previously related to school lunches and obesity. It touches on ethical issues of withholding lunches from students who may not be able to afford to pay and what the potential ramifications to individual school budgets may be in those cases.

Obesity and School Lunches

“Childhood: Obesity and School Lunches” by Rani Caryn Rabin
New York Times, February 4^th, 2011
http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/08/health/research/08childhood.html?_r=1&ref=health

Topic: School lunches may be a contributing factor of the childhood obesity epidemic

Summary: A new study of over 1,000 sixth graders found that students who eat school lunches showed higher rates of obesity than those who brought their own lunch to school. The article, although brief, touches on types of food served in school lunch, numbers from the study, the new law requiring lower calorie school lunches, and recognizes that decreased physical inactivity also has an impact on weight. Follow this link to read comments on the article, some of which include additional information on the subject (some sourced, some not). http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/02/04/when-its-tater-tot-day-at-school/?ref=health
Intended audience: General Public

Key Points:

· Students “who regularly had the school lunch were 29 percent more likely to be obese than those who brought lunch from home.”

· School lunches are typically made of high energy low nutrient food because it is less expensive.

· A Federal law passed in December will limit the number of calories served in school lunches and require a broader selection of fruits and veggies to be made available to kids.

Relevance: With budget cuts to P.E. programs and potential cuts to recess, kids aren’t getting the physical activity they used to at schools. This goes with the topic of educating the whole child. Though this article does not touch on it, there are many interesting things going on in regards to school lunches. Farm to school programs, school gardens, etc.