Teaching our kids government dependency

Christian Schneider:

If asked to identify the most urgent problem with Milwaukee Public Schools, few people would likely say “too much parental involvement.”

In fact, over the years, public schools have been forced to take on more of the duties normally reserved for pupils’ parents. For this, MPS deserves some sympathy — as more children are raised in households with absent or disinterested parents, teachers have had to fill in the gaps in more kids’ upbringing.

But it appears that once a dollar bill is dangled in front of the district, it is more than happy to take over traditional parental responsibilities. Last week, MPS announced that it would be applying to provide free meals to all of the district’s children regardless of the kids’ family income.

Under the federal Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act, school districts where as few as 40% of the students qualify for free or reduced-cost lunches can apply for federal aid to feed the remainder of the students, regardless of their family’s economic standing.

In Wisconsin, 43.3% of all students qualify for free and reduced-cost lunches, and in MPS, 82% of students are currently eligible. Yet it appears the district will not rest until every one of its students is dependent on the government for his or her nourishment, whether the student needs the aid or not.

For years, giving out free meals has been a cash cow for school districts. A decade ago, the Miami-Dade school district determined that the number of kids receiving free breakfasts would factor into a school principal’s performance review. The district began making automated phone calls to households in the district to urge their kids to eat breakfast at school.

Related: 2005 Forum on Poverty & Education.