School principals in Philadelphia will have to add monitoring students' eating habits to their list of responsibilties after the local district reportedly decided they will be held accountable for the number of students eating breakfast in school.
While all 165,000 of the city's public school students are eligible for free breakfast, only 54,000 took advantage of the free meal last year, the Philadelphia Inquirer reported. As result, the School District of Philadelphia has added breakfast participation to the report card that rates principals each year, which includes other categories like attendance and math, the paper reported.
"One of our main goals is to help improve a child's ability to learn," Wayne Grasela, senior vice president of food services for the district, told the Inquirer. "We're working with the principals to make this happen."
But critics say the move is overbearing and unfair.
"Are we going to get to forced feedings?" Michael Lerner, president of Teamsters Local 502, Commonwealth Association of School Administrators, told the Inquirer. "I think it's wrong to assume no parent in Philadelphia is providing breakfast each day."
Click here for more on this story from the Philadelphia Inquirer.
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