School principles are mandated to get as many warm bodies as possible.
The heavily black Philadelphia school district already provides freebreakfast for any student who wants it, no matter their householdincome. Now they’re requiring principals to raise the numbers of kids eating breakfast at taxpayer expense. Those who don’t get the number of freeloaders up will be penalized.
In a locally unprecedented move, the School District ofPhiladelphia will hold principals accountable for the number ofstudents eating breakfast in their schools.
Breakfast participation will be part of the report card that ratesprincipals each year, along with categories such as attendance and mathand reading performance.
All 165,000 students in Philadelphia public schools, regardless ofincome, are eligible for free breakfasts. But just 54,000 ate breakfastlast year, district figures show.
The new system, which begins this year, is expected to increase the number of students eating breakfast, said Jonathan Stein,a lawyer with Community Legal Services, whose efforts – along withthose of Public Citizens for Children and Youth (PCCY) – helped bringabout the move.