Should Schools Run the Cafeteria?
Tacoma considers following Seattle's lead by providing student meals at cost, challenging the private contractors who profit from children's stomachs.
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Shall the 600 Tacoma high school students be fed by the public on wholesome food at cost or shall they be turned over to the tender mercies of restaurant contractors to be exploited for profit? The school board is wrestling with the problem. The contractors and apologists for vested rights and private property are objecting to the 'rationalism.' There seems to be a deep-seated doctrine abroad that the people in this country in their organized capacity shall not do anything for themselves that anybody else can do and make a profit out of. Principal McKown of the Lincoln high school at Seattle says the plan of feeding the students without the intervention of private enterprise has worked well there. If the dyspeptic stomachs of Tacoma school pupils cry loud enough, the cooperative restaurant with good food at cost will come.
“There seems to be a deep-seated doctrine abroad that the people in this country in their organized capacity shall not do anything for themselves that anybody else can do and make a profit out of.”
The debate over privatization of public school services remains a flashpoint in Tacoma today. While the specific concern over 'dyspeptic stomachs' and 'impure gum' on stamps has passed, the tension between public provision and the profit motive continues to shape the city's approach to essential services like food security and education.
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