Most people agree that the best way to get kids to read isn’t by threatening to take away their lunch.
But an Arkansas state Representative is threatening to do just that – sort of.
Rep. Alan Clark, a West Memphis Republican, proposed a bill that would cut “Lunch Funding” for impoverished children in state schools where students struggle with standardized reading tests.
However, he’s not proposing we take away kids’ food.
If passed, the bill would reduce a district’s National School Lunch funding – a state mechanism that distributes extra resources to schools with high concentrations of students who qualify for free lunch programs – if student test scores don’t rise over a period of time. This would cut things like professional development and tutoring.
However, this has been confused with the federal program of the same name and drawn almost universal condemnation.
“I would never starve kids,” Clark said. But he would starve their schools of resources.
Either way, his proposal is obviously unfair.
Only a monster would think you can incentivize reading comprehension by threats and coercion.