Feeding Education
Conferences, workshops, and committee meetings usually have some sort of catering involved. Whether it is bagels, cream cheese, and coffee at a faculty meeting or full-course meals on in-service days, the food tab in school districts is far more than the federally-funded school lunch programs declaring ketchup as a vegetable.
The backbone of family involvement programs is food. Unless the families are fed, there is little incentive for them to come to whatever program is offered, it is argued. Therefore, pizza parties, stuffed shells, chaffing dishes of chicken and rice, and dessert trays are found at parent nights.
But it is more than that. School improvement teams dine on these dishes as do entire district staffs on county in-service days. Having a committee meeting after school for which you want teachers to show up for? Make certain there are sweets on the table.
And yes, dear taxpayer, it is all paid for with your taxes.
This week, state Republicans scolded the DOE for the expenses being paid for by our tax dollars.
The state paid for catering at Asbury Park school board meetings, dinner at Emeril’s restaurant in Orlando for four Jersey City school officials and hotel rooms in Manhattan for Newark school officials who instead could have taken short train rides home, according to Republican legislators.
Remember there is a shortage in funds to pay for education in New Jersey. No, curtailing food expenditures is not going to balance budgets. But shouldn’t we expect better spending of those we are entrusting to set examples for our children?
Also blogged on this date . . .
- Trikke - 2008
- "This Ain't My First Rodeo" - 2007
- My Life Is Less Valuable to Congress - 2007
- Inconsistency on The Sopranos - 2006
- The Frog Continues Double Standards - 2006
- Reason #4832 Why McGreevey Was a Bad Governor - 2005
- Local Politics Getting Dirty - 2005
- What is your caching area? - 2004
Tags: Education, inefficiency, New Jersey