Parents fight for the right to sell treats at school
By Robert Smith/NPR
Psssst. Hey, kid. You want some of the sweet stuff? You know, sugar, the Granulated Monkey? Anisa Romero, mom to a pre-kindergarten student in New York City, would definitely hook you up. She and her PTA crew recently brought a slew of pastries and goodies to City Hall for a bake sale — and protest. New York City parents are demanding the right to bake their cake and sell it, too, after the city's schools began enforcing a once-a-month limit on PTA bake sales during the school day. Student groups are prohibited altogether from selling home-baked items as fundraisers. Education officials say they want only approved, packaged snacks sold in the hallways because of health concerns. But parents argue that their homemade goodies are a more wholesome way to help fund school programs in the wake of painful budget cuts in the New York school system. (more...)