Retired public school teacher, here. I taught elementary school, but much of what the OP stated resonates with me. So much waste in the food programs! The kids threw most of their free breakfasts, lunches, and snacks in the waste bins. Occasionally there would be a student who was truly needy and actually hungry and would eat it all, but those students were few and far between. And discipline...ugh! I will never forget the faculty meeting when our principal told us to stop sending black boys to the office for disciplinary infractions. Too many black boys! We were all aghast, naturally. We were told that it came down from the central office and school board. Too many black boys being sent to the office. Never mind the fact that a disproportionate number of black boys were the ones hitting, swearing, being disrespectful, being disruptive. We were also told the 'it's their culture' line over and over. Don't correct poor grammar. It's their culture. Don't expect them to stay seated and to be attentive. It's their culture. Don't expect them to speak quietly in the classroom. It's their culture. I taught for thirty years. The last ten were very hard. So much changed when the schools started taking federal grants and had to give up local control. I'm proud to say that I never joined the teacher's union. Even thirty years ago I figured out that the dues went to Democrats. All the money in the world won't help if kids don't have parents who care about education. Most parents these days consider school like daycare. Somewhere to dump their kids for seven hours, nothing more. It's very sad.