What Our Public Education System Can Learn from Teach for America’s Superstar Teachers

Several years ago, the word “sexting” was not part of American vernacular. Unfortunately, in the past year, the word has become a part of our society, permeating news articles as a description of a disturbing trend: teenagers sending sexually explicit photos of themselves and other teens using their cell phones.

The Unfortunate Consequences of Sexting

The trend became the focus of increased attention after a high school student’s suicide in July 2008 was attributed to sexting. Jessica Logan, a senior at an Ohio high school, had sent nude photos of herself to a boyfriend.

After the relationship ended, her ex-boyfriend sent the photos to other female students at Logan’s school, which resulted in months of harassment and teasing for Logan. Logan reported, according to MSNBC, that the other girls called her a "slut" and a "whore," and that the teasing was so disruptive that she began to skip school. Logan hung herself one month after her high school graduation.

Logan’s parents recently filed suit against the high school and several other defendants, alleging that the school and the local police did not do enough to protect their daughter from being bullied and harassed, reports the Cincinnati Enquirer.

According to a recent study commissioned by the National Campaign to Prevent Teen and Unplanned Pregnancy and CosmoGirl.com, “20 percent of teenagers have taken nude or semi-nude pictures or videos of themselves and sent them to someone or posted them online,” reports the New York Times blog

For the last several decades, public school cafeterias have been exemplified by reheated chicken nuggets, French fries, hamburgers, “mystery meat,” and a bevy of unhealthy processed foods. Thankfully, some public school students are happily making the switch to fresh foods, making processed foods on campus a phenomenon of the past.

Pilot Program in Illinois Turns Children into Fans of Fruits and Vegetables

At East Elementary School in Alton, Illinois, students sample a different fruit or vegetable every day during designated snack time. The Chicago Tribune reports that thanks to a grant from the Produce for Better Health Foundation, which administers funds distributed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, East Elementary School teachers have the opportunity to offer their students a different fruit or vegetable every day.

The program has a few basic guidelines: the food of the day is announced over the school’s public address system. The food cannot be served at breakfast or lunch. Most importantly, the produce must be fresh and in its whole state, which means it cannot come cooked in a processed “cup,” or in the form of a juice or smoothie. The grant money cannot be used to buy dips or salsas to go with the produce.

In other words, the program is quite simple: elementary school students sample different fruits or vegetables, which they may not have previously tried, in pure, unadorned states.

While the practice is simple, the goals of the program are large. According to

Chicken nuggets, pizza, hamburgers, and iceberg lettuce salads: these nutritionally-questionable food choices are common fare on public school lunch menus. However, beyond the question of healthy food options is a much scarier prospect: are school lunches even safe for our children to consume?

The potential prevalence of E. Coli in school lunches has already been scrutinized, but there are more nasty shocks in store for parents and public school students. In fact, the standards governing the preparation and food content of school lunches fall short of minimums imposed upon even fast-food restaurants, such as KFC and McDonalds!

Meaty Treats: The USDA’s Low-Quality Provisions

The United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) oversees the school lunch program countrywide. Although there are strict guidelines in place, a significant percentage of the millions of pounds of meat consumed by children in the school cafeteria continually fail to meet quality standards imposed by fast-food outlets.

No parent would feed their child meat only fit for pet food or compost, yet meat from “old birds” is exactly what children are being served at school, as found by USA Today’s investigation. Even KFC and the Campbell Soup Company refuse to buy such meat because of quality considerations, and these corporations stopped doing so more than a decade ago – yet our children are eating this very type of questionable quality meat.

This video from The Rubin Report discusses the low quality of many public school lunches.

For parents of children attending public schools, it can be exceedingly difficult to express their concerns about disciplinary measures, school policies, or the appropriation of district funding. In the majority of cases, the best place to start is the school board. However, parent-led battles within the public school setting are often frustrating, futile, and swamped in bureaucratic red tape. This guide can help you navigate the school board infrastructure and understand how to best advocate for your child.

Great Schools describes what a school board does as follows: "A well-run school board plays a vital role in keeping your local schools on track, always with the student's best interests in mind. Ideally, a school board works with, and for, their community with the overarching goal of improving your district’s local schools. They should be maintaining a strong organizational structure for their district, one that empowers the superintendent and district administrators to manage the schools, the teachers to effectively teach, and the students to be supported in a thriving learning environment."

This video describes what a school board does.

The School Board: Where Major Decisions Are Made

For parents experiencing a personal issue related to schooling, the principal or superintendent should be the first port of call. However, if there are concerns relating to the school’s policies or curriculum, the elected school board is the only faction with the authority to