If you are not concerned about the explosive debt across all governments, you should be. We’ve gorged on debt and eventually the bubble will break. Current bureaucrats and politicians are first concerned with their self interest and then with the needs of their constituencies. There is a leadership vacuum as they fail to tell us the real truth. Getting reelected means expansion of government, more borrowing and further deferral for the huge train of debt we’ve relegated to the unborn.
Federal debt is now 133 percent of Gross National Product (GDP) when pension liabilities of federal retirees are considered. In this scenario, taking a federal government grant from a government that is $14-plus trillion in debt with red ink continuing to flow unabated to add a plethora of “entitlements” Hays CISD already has in place is irresponsible. When only half the country is paying federal income tax, you eventually stifle self initiative by reallocating wealth through government. Investment then moves overseas.
I’m not against helping the truly needy. It’s the Christian thing to do. But, it is hard to understand how we could have half the student population in this category. I believe the fault lies in the process for application for free and reduced lunch programs. As far as I know, nobody audits these applications and applicants are taken at their word. In 25 years of following HCISD, I’ve not seen a single challenge to a free and reduced lunch application. What I have seen is an upgrade in the standard of living of HCISD residents. In effect, we’re subsidizing a higher standard of living for those not truly in need.
Since so many funding formulas are based on the percentage of students in the free and reduced lunch program, many districts actively promote enrollment in free and reduced lunch. And, they never check the applications! The grant itself must have been based on this climbing percentage. We have deep systemic problems in education. Throwing more programs at it will not help. All this does is encourage more destruction of the family and more government dependency.
Bryce Bales
Manchaca
