History of IDEA
Jeannie Oakes, Founder and Former Director
Youth Voice in School Finance
NEW REPORT: Los Angeles' road to A-G for all
Without Dollars and Sense Powerpoint
Past Educational Opportunity Reports
Potato farmers vs. school kids
- 10-21-2011
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By Valerie Strauss/Washington Post
No longer will I think of Dan Quayle when the admittedly obscure subject of potatoes and schools arises. (Remember when he, the vice president, misspelled potato at an elementary school in 1992, putting an ‘e’ at the end?) Now we have the case of the Senate, in this troubled economic age, taking the time to take care of the interests of industrial potato farmers at the possible expense of school kids. Here’s what happened: Amid an obesity epidemic among young people — about 17 percent, or 12.5 million, of Americans aged 2 to 19 years are obese, government statistics show — the Agriculture Department set forth proposed rules earlier this year designed to force public schools to provide healthier meals to students. First lady Michelle Obama has made childhood obesity a key issue, starting her “Let's Move” initiative which promotes healthier eating for children. (more...)
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