Title One school

I teach at a title one school. The reason my school is a title one school is that more than 70% of the students receive free or reduced lunch. Being a title one school entitles the school to receive a large amount of additional funding. For my school, that means an additional half a million dollars in title one funds. Our budget is somewhere north of $15,000 per student.

In addition, students and their families are entitled to:
- free breakfast for all students, regardless of whether or not they qualify for free or reduced lunch
- free coats for students who request them
- free groceries that can be sent home for the families of students who need them
- free daycare during days when school is not in session (winter break, summer, etc.)

Throwing money at the problem isn't going to fix education. There is a well known connection between poverty and poor performance in education, but after spending 5 years as a teacher, I think I know why:

Whether it is nature or nurture, affluent parents generally have smart, well educated children. The reason for this is simple: parents who are successful tend to be smart and well educated themselves, and pass this trait on to their children.

Parents who are poor do not.

The funny thing is that students who need public funds to buy food all seem to have smart phones with data plans. Several of my students have taken cruises this year, even though they are on food stamps.

We as a society are wasting gobs of money for little return. No one believes this money will fix anything. This is just another scheme for redistributing wealth.