MOAR GOP Rebranding: West Virginia Republican Proposes Making Kids Work for Food
More: Ray Canterbury on School Lunches: West Virginia Republican Proposes Making Kids Work for Food
A West Virginia lawmaker floated the idea during floor debate in the state’s House of Delegates of having school children work as janitors, the Associated Press reports.
The West Virginia House recently passed a school lunch bill on an overwhelmingly bipartisan basis, by a vote of 89-9, according to the Associated Press. The Feed to Achieve Act would establish nonprofits to solicit private donations to go toward providing every child with a breakfast and lunch at no cost.
But one Republican suggested that was a misguided notion.
“I think it would be a good idea if perhaps we had the kids work for their lunches: trash to be taken out, hallways to be swept, lawns to be mowed, make them earn it,” Del. Ray Canterbury (R-Greenbrier) said during floor debate. “If they miss a lunch or they miss a meal they might not, in that class that afternoon, learn to add, they may not learn to diagram a sentence, but they’ll learn a more important lesson.”