Quote:To me this is just wrong and is part of the problem with not only our government public education system, but with government in general.

 

A school lunch worker was fired for feeding a first grader because the child didn't have enough money for lunch.

 

This discussion can go so many ways, but off the top of my head a couple of issues come to mind.

 

First, what if we did away with the useless Department of Education and spent a portion of the savings on providing lunches for children?  Of course, ultimate responsibility for a child's welfare is on the parent(s) of the child.  However, I see no reason why a child should be denied a healthy meal because of the parents' incompetence.  Further money to pay for the program could be extracted from the parents' "tax refund".

 

Second, what if we got rid of the unions that siphon money from the school system and the teachers?  Perhaps teachers can earn at least just a little bit more than they earn now, along with the cafeteria workers, the janitors, etc.  Perhaps, hold the educators responsible for the success and/or failure of their students.  After all, these are all government jobs that are not driven by profit.  Why is a union necessary?  Exactly how much money flows to these unions and for what purpose?

 

There are many arguments and topics that can be discussed from this issue.

.If the school lunch worker was in a Union, she may not have been fired. She may have gone through progressive discipline and been warned that its verboten. But if this was a first infraction? I cant see a discharge. But if you are at the mercy of the bosses discretion, well, that's the way it is.

Not knowing the particulars of this case, but if it went down as it sounds, its the classic example of why workers unionize.

On the other side of the argument...parents who consistently dont have enough money to put a sammich in a bag for lunch at school should be closely examined. Hate to put the "back when I was in school" cliche in here, but many here had hard times. I know we did, but never was there a time when we couldnt get a couple pieces of bread and some peanut butter or something on it. Again, its not the kids fault, but maybe parents need more accountability?

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