When We Didn't Have the Option of Cheese Sandwiches. It Was Paid Lunch, Free Lunch Or Homemade

[NashVegas]

I thought we were all over this a month ago, about the kids who were over their spending limit and stuck with those damn sandwiches.

I don't know when we went to electronically-paid lunches, but I do know that before people were allowed to use debt to arrange their kids lunches, there were two ways to get food on a plate: either you paid cash, or you turned over a lunch ticket.

To those who were on free lunches (and I spent some time on that) who were picked on by other kids: I'm sorry. You went to school with assholes. That really sucks and there's nothing I can do about it. I guess I was just luckier because no one at my school really cared.

If you didn't have money, and you didn't have a free lunch ticket, you didn't get in line. To me, it looks like the biggest problem is, schools have gotten into this mess by allowing people to buy lunch on credit in the first place. We can solve that one, easy. No more lunches on credit.

There is no excuse for a parent who will not put their pride aside for their childrens' well-being and ask for help. Getting help in being put on the lunch program is a part of that. If a parent won't drop their pride for their childrens' well being, I'm sorry, but getting a cheese sandwich is the least of that kid's problems.

[ret5hd]

1. Yeah. Fuck those hungry kids!

[HiFructosePronSyrup]

2. Especially if they've got bad parents.

Those are the kids who deserve the least amount of help. They're shitty kids. Probably why even their own parents don't love them.

[ret5hd]

4. Exactly!

[leftstreet]

6. They could have chosen wealthy parents, but they didn't!

No sympathy from me!

[Ichingcarpenter]

12. The Uppity first graders especially that don't have a clue

and can't read the lunch ticket rules. Those are the one that you especially need to watch.

Next thing you know they might cry.

[NashVegas]

3. I Was Thinking, "Fuck Those Negligent Parents"

Not *poor* parents, but negligent ones.

[Stellabella]

7. Well, with this lack of logic, it's not surprising about your posts.

You can't 'fuck the negligent parents' without fucking the kids too. Sheesh.

[noiretextatique]

8. that's the same as saying fuck the kids

they are the ones who get punished.

[noiretextatique]

5. a better idea is to provide free lunches to all children eom

[NashVegas]

9. Cheese Sandwiches For All!

If schools want to do it ...

[mia]

11. Let them eat cheese!

: )

[Tandalayo_Scheisskopf]

21. There is gonna be...

an epidemic of constipated kids. Just you wait and see!

[mia]

27. I can hear it now:

"Who cut the cheese?" throughout the schools.

[noiretextatique]

13. seriously

if we can spend billions killing people in iraq and afghanistan, why can't we provide meals for our children? they are the future, supposedly.

[NashVegas]

16. Obviously, We Can, Then

The question is then: do we have the will?

Believe it or not, some people still prefer to pack their kids' lunch, believing the school lunch program to be less than optimally nutritious. So let's deal with them first: do we give them a credit?

[noiretextatique]

17. yes, they get a credit

they get credit for not being assholes by demanding credits.

[ret5hd]

18. Give 'em a pat on the back for being fortunate. Meanwhile, we'll feed the others.

[Bluebear]

22. "do we give them a credit?' - what do you want, a lunch voucher program?

[donco6]

25. And I'll print money in the basement.

Because in the real world, I get to make ends meet on $2.59 per meal reimbursement.

[noiretextatique]

40. in th e real stupid world, we spend billions on pointless wars

and killing people. it's a simple matter of rearranging priorities.

[ret5hd]

10. Quit hopping onto trends, poser!

[nosmokes]

14. Maybe I'm slow, but I can't really figure out what you're saying.

A link or some more clarity please? I feel like I walked in on the middle of the movie.

[NashVegas]

19. Seriously?

It was first in the news a month ago.

Jan. 27--Cheese sandwiches are still on the menu.Albuquerque Public Schools will continue to serve the sandwiches to students with unpaid lunch debts, barring an agreement with community groups to pay down most of the bill.The policy of offering a sandwich to a child whose parents haven't paid the lunch tab is working, APS officials told the school board during a special meeting Monday. It has brought in $42,000 of the $140,000 in lunch debts, and qualified another 1,300 students for free or reduced-prices lunches since early January."We are providing more children meals and more nutritious meals than we have ever in the past," Superintendent Winston Brooks said, recommending that the school board keep the policy.Students receive a cheese sandwich in lieu of a hot meal if they have exceeded a set amount of unpaid charged meals, ranging from two at high schools to 10 at elementaries. Critics of the policy say it stigmatizes children by separating them from others in the lunch line. Opponents -- some of whom showed up with signs and children dressed in cardboard costumes of cheese sandwiches and cartons of milk -- vowed to continue their fight for a reversal after Monday's 5-2 board vote to let the policy stand.

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=389&topic_id=4923250

[ret5hd]

24. So this was posted a month ago, then this week it turns into a mudfest here...

and a poster whose comment on their profile page states "Don't hop onto trends, start them" posts this bullshit?

What sense is that?

Just askin'.

[noiretextatique]

20. here...these will help

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5147566
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=389x5151065

[Bluebear]

15. Let them eat plain cheese sandwiches, Marie!

[dustbunnie]

23. I'm happy to hear that children are at least getting cheese sandwiches.

If served on whole wheat bread with a fruit on the side, that's probably a more nutritious lunch than many "middle class" kids opt for. Like the old chips and ice cream sandwich lunch I used to fancy.

Not to downplay the aspect of singling kids out for being poor, or having dysfunctional parents that don't care if they eat or not... but kids will make fun of absolutely ANYTHING. The observant jewish kids at our school were teased for their "kosher" lunches. The immigrant kids got teased for their "weird" food. Kids who got baloney sandwiches were ragged on by kids who ate chicken salad with pudding cup sides. At least that's how it was at our school. You were only safe if you ate pizza, burgers or nachos. Pack of bullying animals!

[NashVegas]

26. So Am I - But This Is NOT About Anyone Who Is Poor!

Poor people get to be on the free lunch program and don't have to have this happen. This is happening to people who buy lunch on credit and don't pay up.

Everyone is bringing their own baggage to this, I guess.

[dustbunnie]

28. I know. I read the article posted a little bit upthread.

Actually, if you think about it, by getting middle class people to open their wallets and pay up these deliquent accounts, it helps balance the budget in favor of providing those less fortunate with a proper lunch.

I guess what people are saying is, why does the battleground have to be the cafeteria.

[NashVegas]

29. $90,000 Is What I Saw

Of the money that's come in as a result, so far.

That's a lot of text books, gym equipment, and what have you. And food.

[Tatiana]

30. I'm completely STUNNED. I cannot believe some of the responses to this issue I have read.

How many of you work in schools? (I do.)

How many of you work with kids who come from low-income, poverty-stricken families? (I do.)

One of the things we've done is to make sure EVERY family fills out a free/reduced lunch form, unless they absolutely know they won't qualify. But that still isn't enough. Some people who are struggling to make ends meet are denied due to income. I remember when I was a single parent and my child first started attending school. I filled out the form and was denied due to income. I probably made $25,000 (if that). $40-$50 a month doesn't seem like a lot, but when you're struggling with rising energy costs (heating bills, gas to get to work, etc.), it can be an issue. What I have found with some of the families at my school is that they are playing a juggling act. Unable to pay all the bills in full every month, so the $50 for the child's lunch account goes to pay the water bill. The kid racks up charges until the parent(s) can put off another bill in order to pay on the child's lunch account.

Yes, paying the lunch bill is a parental problem. However, what's more important, in my opinion, is the effect on the child. For many of these children, the school lunch may be the only meal they eat until dinner, if they eat dinner. I saw a student last month sitting in the hallway during her lunch period. I asked her why she had her head down and if she was feeling OK. She said she was light-headed and she was hungry. I told her to go to the cafeteria (as it was her lunch period) and get something to eat. There was a huge pause, as if she was embarrassed, but then she blurted out that she couldn't get lunch because she hadn't paid off her charges. She said her mom couldn't pay it this month. Because these are high school kids, they don't even get a cheese sandwich. They don't get anything until their charges are paid. I just bought a lunch for myself and gave it to her.

I spoke with the mom during parent/teacher conferences (their phone was disconnected). Turns out mom is laid off and waiting on her unemployment. She had originally been denied for free/reduced lunch, but I told her to reapply as her status had changed. I think the family got approved. Sometimes just reminding families to fill out the form if there is any change in their circumstances works.

If it's parents who have the money and simply refuse to pay, that's one thing. They need to handle their business and take care of the responsibilities they have the means to take care of. But often we are dealing with families who bottom line are poor. I cannot support a policy that penalizes students by leaving them hungry simply because their parents are poor.

[ret5hd]

31. I hope you recognized the sarcasm of post #1.

[Tatiana]

33. I honestly couldn't tell. Saw the sarcasm in some of the responses.

But then, I've seen other replies across this board that are dead serious in their lack of compassion for kids who can't get a regular lunch.

[NashVegas]

35. Lot of Projection, Via Sarcasm

This is not a matter of people being too poor to pay, this is a matter of people who can pay but place more importance on their greens fees and exfoliating scrub.

I think a lot of us here on DU remember what it was like to be economically disadvantaged, and picked on because of all the baggage that goes along with that, and some are confusing their former circumstances with the current not-so-economically disadvantaged kids who are stuck with cheese sandwiches instead of say, soggy pizza and chili dogs.

[wellstone dem]

36. Tatiana, thank you

for your caring spirit. Caring enough to ask the child why she was sitting outside the lunchroom. Caring enough to buy the meal. Caring enough to speak with the mom. You renew my heart.

[TheCentepedeShoes]

32. I fear this will catch on overseas

and we will face a cheese sandwich gap.

[beyurslf]

34. I'm sorry but these hungry children with parents who don't give a damn should at least

be able to eat something hot at school. No child should ever be made to go hungry at school. Ever. Period. This is not a discussable item.
I was one of those free lunch kids at school too. I remember the shame and the comments. I may have gone to school with assholes. Maybe those kids should have been told to be nice. But why should a young kid only 5 or 6 or 7 be forced into that situation by adults who know better?

[tabasco]

37. "I'm sorry. You went to school with assholes."

That statement tells me all I need to know about you.

[NashVegas]

38. What? That I Can

Express sympathy for someone who had it rough?

[NashVegas]

39. For Koko, Whose Thread Got Locked

Regarding what you said about: "RW'ers who trash them and their parents about what they can afford."

Shouldn't we then, make the argument about how we deal with the obnoxious RWers, instead of making it about how we can best avoid confrontation by way of either going to 100% arranged lunches, or telling everyone, "okay, you don't have to prove need, we'll take your word on it from here on out," or letting a negligent family slip into hundreds of dollars of debt for lunch?