Free Republic

In Governor Christie’s efforts to solve New Jersey’s education problems, yesterday he visited the Dudley Family School in Camden to discuss some of his plans for school programs in the Garden State. ......................................................... One of the big education announcements that he made in Camden is plans for an after-school dinner program for kids in six of the city’s schools. Research has shown that when kids are hungry, that affects not just their academic performance, but also their behavior.

LOS ANGELES (AP) — Many of the students at Kingsley Elementary School in a low-income neighborhood of Los Angeles eat breakfast and lunch provided by the school. For the nearly 100 enrolled in the after-school program, another meal is served: supper. The nation’s second largest school district is doubling the number of students served dinner, with an eye toward eventually offering it at every school. It’s a growing trend: Nationwide, the number of students served dinner or an after-school snack soared to nearly 1 million last year. “When kids are hungry, they don’t pay attention,” said Bennett Kayser, a member...

And, no, the term “child dinner” does not mean that moppets are on the menu. They are handed one, though, courtesy of the U.S. Department of Education. Via Julie Gunlock at NRO’s The Corner blog, we learn that the Obama administration is expanding its child-dinner program from 13 states to all 50 (or, if Obama gets his way, all 57 … or is it 58?). Anyway, Gunlock has the details: ... This bit of government expansion, by the way, is courtesy of the lame-duck session of Congress. ... And what’s next for the (nearly literal) nanny state after this? AmeriCorps...