Thanks for the link. Many parents DON'T fill out the forms required to qualify for free lunch [[and it's not that hard to check a few boxes) because they don't want anyone to know their business. If they don't fill out the form, their child also doesn't qualify for after-school free tutoring, a bus card, and many other things that their kid probably needs. There are kids who can't afford the bus fare to get to school [[and we just made the walk impossible by closing so many schools). Parents don't have cars to drive the kids...so just how are we expecting the kids to make it to school? Then, there are the parents who just don't give the kid lunch money/bus fare to and from...and they probably COULD afford it but just don't do it. I feel for the kids who have to live like this. It really does something to their self-esteem when their parents tell them that they don't care enough to get them to school or make sure they have breakfast and lunch. I can't even imagine what that must be like for the kids.

Way, way back, my parents filled out that lunch form [[we never qualified) because they knew that programs for the kids who didn't have depended on it [[there is money to be had for each lunch form a school receives, if the kid qualifies or not). In fact, every parent sent back the form. I don't know where the thought of the school being in family business came into play. It's not like anyone at the school has time to sit down and look at the family income. We just send the forms out to the feds and they send back a list of names of kids who qualify. That's all we get, a list of names. No income, no anything else. I really think we need to break the barrier between family and school so that families learn to trust those who are working with their kids.

I've had students defend my failing them to their parent. They say they deserved it. One student actually apologized for his mother calling me every name under the book and threatening to kick my ass if i didn't pass the kid. He NEVER came to class. I called home repeatedly. He took responsibility for his F in front of her. She didn't care. She wanted me to pass him. She didn't trust anyone in the school to do what was right. That type of mentality needs to change. We really do need more family support and if the school and the parents started working together, the kids would really be better off [[and they just might do better in school if they knew that school and parents were on the same page and the parents won't go and cause a scene to get what they want...and they usually do get what they want, which causes the kid to not work hard or do anything in school).

I'm rambling but I still think it's a good program.

Quote Originally Posted by Hypestyles View Post
http://hypestyleshomebase.blogspot.c...tptinyurl.html