Empty stomachs, vacant hearts
The man who's leading the charge against subversive education - otherwise known as International Baccalaureate - is trying to muster support for his position that compassion and the opportunity to actually educate less fortunate children is a cross that should not be borne by public schools.
What's sad is that Duncan Koler probably isn't the only Coeur d'Alene School District patron who feels that way. When Koler railed last week against what he called the "social services bureaucracy" that he alleges the school district is becoming, he packaged feeding, clothing and providing health care for children into his list of mistaken steps the district is taking, leading it down the slippery slope of socialism.
Duncan's sarcastic rant Monday (you can hear it on cdapress.com) followed a December presentation on a backpack program that's gaining a strong foothold in Coeur d'Alene and Post Falls. The program, championed locally by Sheri Bullock, supported by many local businesses and bolstered in Post Falls a month ago by a $35,000 donation from the Coeur d'Alene Tribe, uses volunteers, grants and contributions to send some 175 Kootenai County school children home every Friday with a backpack stuffed with nutritious, non-perishable food.
It's a wonderful program, but it's not enough.
In the Coeur d'Alene School District alone, 311 students have been identified as homeless. Half of the district's 10,000 students meet low-income criteria for free or reduced cost lunches. That's 5,000 children in one district who likely are improperly fed, inadequately clothed and insufficiently kept healthy. Countywide, that number could be double.
Koler is correct if he believes the children's parents should take responsibility. But he is wrong if he thinks his personal conviction or political philosophy will actually alter this devastating trend. And in the meantime, thousands of children will continue to suffer because their families are unable or unwilling to take proper care of them.
The way to break this disastrous cycle is to better prepare these children - the ones whose stomachs growl and attention wavers because coming up with 40 cents each day for a hot school lunch is difficult - to be successful in life. The cycle can be broken with a strong education, but how do you teach children who are hungry, poorly clothed and sick?
On curriculum decisions, Mr. Koler is free to disagree with what most parents want. But when it comes to the most basic needs of our children, we implore teachers, counselors and administrators to do what's right and damn the consequences.