Open Letter to Gov. Branstad, re: School Lunch

Dear Governor Branstad:

You asked Iowans for help as you begin your term as Governor.  This is an excellent idea.  Iowans are innovative and willing to do the hard work needed to get the job done.  Recently I submitted the first of a few ideas I feel are worthy of your consideration as you put together the state budget and perfect your blueprint for governing in the years to come.  I share another today.

As a former school board member, I know as well as any that school districts do much more than maintain school buildings and hire teachers.  Public schools run bus networks, manage countless social service and health care programs, and direct massive food service operations.  Some of these services are directly linked to education and others are provided at school because it is the one place where the children in need of these services gather.  It is time to help educators focus on improving education by taking some of these non-instructional items off of their plate.  The pun is intended; let’s start by taking food service out of the hands of educators.

We probably agree it makes sense to feed kids at school.  For many students, the breakfasts and lunches they receive at school are the best meals they receive all week.  However, we must acknowledge that these meals still fall short of what they should be as evidenced by theUnited States Department of Agriculture’s announcement last month that it was raising the standards for school lunches nationwide.  (The fact it will take a decade to implement these standards, meaning that no student in the system today excluding First Graders and Kindergartners will benefit, is disappointing; but I digress.)

We can improve the quality of food served, reduce costs and free educators to do the job we most want them to do if feeding children becomes a service provided in school as opposed to one provided by the school.

Before going further with this proposal, allow me to suggest three guiding principles.  First, federal, state and local government food oversight provide plenty of food safety controls.  Second, school boards and district administrations should be given the ability to assert local control and oversight to ensure the needs of local communities are met.   Third, feeding kids nutritious and affordable meals is the goal – this is not about busting unions or a power grab by one entity or another.

Possible alternatives to school run lunch programs include combining oversight to an agency jointly managed by multiple school districts, and/or county and state agencies with food service needs; outsourcing to private entities that submit to stringent oversight; or seeking other private and or public cooperative efforts.

Admittedly, this idea will induce swift knee-jerk reactions by the self-interested, the entrenched and those fearful of change.  But, it is worth the time and effort to find a solution.  Iowa could save money, children could eat better and our schools could improve because school administrators will have more time to focus on educating.  It is worth the battle.

There are numerous opportunities worthy of exploration.  As Governor, you have the unique ability to facilitate, if not orchestrate, how Iowa’s schools could go about this.  This issue is larger than any school district.  School districts need to focus on the classroom and the state can help them do this by helping them take a step away from the kitchen.  The economies of scale and the statewide impact of how to best move forward should be led by Iowa’s chief executive.

Thanks for listening, Governor.

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Graham Gillette can be reached at grahamgillette@gmail.com

This entry was first published as a Des Moines Register blog entry.