Recent editorials from Kentucky newspapers:
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Feb. 4
The Somerset Commonwealth Journal on a Senate bill that would bring state childcare facilities in line with federal standards:
We want to make sure our children are cared for properly.
And for parents who have to use childcare facilities, that includes making sure our kids are well fed.
These days, that doesn’t mean cookies and milk.
The Kentucky General Assembly is considering a bill that would bring state’s childcare facilities in line with USDA standards. The bill also covers adult care centers.
“Senate Bill 45 … simply addresses childcare standards for all licensed childcare centers within the commonwealth,” Sen. Danny Carroll, R-Paducah, said while explaining SB 45 on the Senate floor this week. “These are standards that are followed by the vast majority of facilities, but this will bring all facilities under the umbrella.”
The bill passed the Senate by a 34-0 vote.
We think it’s good legislation.
Under the latest Child and Adult Care Food Program (CACFP) nutrition standards, meals and snacks served will include a greater variety of vegetables and fruit, more whole grains, and less added sugar and saturated fat, and will establish age-appropriate meal patterns.
Here are some notable standards developed by the USDA:
- Ensure that at least one of the two required components of a snack be a fruit or vegetable.
- Serve a variety of fruits, more often than juice, and increase the variety of vegetables provided each week.
- Provide at least two servings of whole grain-rich grains each day.
- Serve only lean meats, nuts, and legumes, and limit processed meats to no more than one serving per week.
- Serve natural cheese and choose low-fat or reduced fat-cheeses.
- Serve only unflavored milk to all and serve water as a beverage when serving yogurt in place of milk for adults.
- Incorporate seasonal and locally produced foods into meals.
- Limit purchased pre-fried foods to no more than one serving per week.
- Avoid serving non-creditable foods that are sources of added sugar.
SB 45 also includes a second nutrition provision that would set standards for sugary drinks, which is one of America’s biggest culprits in its childhood obesity dilemma, according to nutrition experts.
“Beverage companies have said they want to be part of the solution to childhood obesity, but they continue to market sugar-sweetened children’s drinks directly to young children on TV and through packages designed to get their attention in the store,” said Jennifer L. Harris, PhD, MBA, lead study author and the Rudd Center’s director of Marketing Initiatives. “Parents may be surprised to know that pediatricians, dentists, and other nutrition experts recommend against serving any of these drinks to children.”
SB 45 would also require childcare centers to meet certain physical activity and screen time standards. That term is used for activities done in front of a screen, such as watching television.
In short, this bill assures us that childcare centers will provide a healthier environment for our children.
Hey, we’re not against a batch of chocolate chip cookies from time to time. But moderation is the key to healthy eating.
Under Senate Bill 45, we know our children will receive the balanced diet, and supervised physical activity, that will provide a healthy lifestyle.
Online: https://www.somerset-kentucky.com
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Feb. 2
The Bowling Green Daily News on options for boosting achievement rates among low-income students:
The fact that Kentucky ranks near the bottom nationally in education achievement among low-income students should be of grave concern to our educators and to all citizens whose hard-earned taxes support our schools.
As parents and concerned citizens, we cannot let our children continue to be put in this category. It’s totally unacceptable, unfortunate and further proof that more must be done to erase this poor ranking by giving low-income students more options when it comes to school choice.
One obstacle that these low-income children face is the Kentucky Education Association, the teachers’ union that has opposed school-choice options that could benefit low-income kids trapped in underperforming schools.
Who are they to say low-income kids can’t go to charter, private or parochial schools that offer scholarship tax credits if they so choose?
All kids, regardless of their parents’ financial background, deserve to have the best education possible in our state.
That is why we support legislation to give tax credits to people or businesses donating to scholarship funds for special-needs children or those in low-income homes to attend private schools.
School-choice supporters rallied at Kentucky’s Capitol at the end of January to try to build momentum for the proposal.
State Sen. Ralph Alvarado, R-Winchester, and Kentucky Attorney General Daniel Cameron said the scholarship tax credits would give more children from low- and middle-income homes the option to attend schools that best fit their needs – an option that students from wealthier families already enjoy.
“Scholarship tax credits will unlock the world of opportunities for kids who currently find themselves on the outside of the best schools looking in,” Alvarado said.
Cameron said a family’s economic status shouldn’t stand in the way of parents choosing the best educational opportunities for their children – whether it’s public, private, parochial or home schools.
“There shouldn’t be a Republican or Democratic designation attached to educational opportunities here in the commonwealth of Kentucky,” Cameron said. “For the sake of our children, we must all embrace the idea that regardless of background, beliefs, wealth or race, Kentucky children should have access to an education that meets their needs.”
Alvarado and Cameron are on target on this particular issue. All of our children, not just some, deserve the best education possible. Many people across the state would agree that all of our children deserve the best education possible.
But listening to the KEA, one wouldn’t think so.
“Let’s call scholarship tax credits what they really are: private-school vouchers and tax shelters for the wealthy that take money away from public school students across the commonwealth,” KEA President Eddie Campbell said in a statement.
Campbell referred to the scholarship tax credits as “tax loopholes” because he believes it would reduce tax revenue for schools. By this logic, you could argue that any of the numerous deductions allowed under federal and state tax codes reduce funding available for public schools. This is a weak argument.
Campbell seems to be offended that wealthy people and businesses would benefit from tax credits for those contributions. He forgets that successful businesses and upper-income individuals contribute property and income taxes to support the schools in amounts disproportionately higher than their numbers.
Don’t teachers and individuals contributing to scholarships share a common goal, which is to help kids, including those in failing schools with low achievement scores?
We most certainly believe so.
We also believe that schools perform much better when all stakeholders, including parents, businesses and taxpayers, are engaged with educators to provide the best possible outcome for all kids.
We wholeheartedly support this legislation and can’t emphasize enough that it is worthy of passage because the kids in these low-performing schools deserve better. They deserve a chance to attend better schools just like more privileged kids do.
This proposed legislation could give some of them a chance for a better education, which in turn could mean a brighter future.
Online: https://www.bgdailynews.com
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Feb. 2
The Paducah Sun on a local dentistry clinic aiming to help under-served populations:
It’s a regrettable fact that our community’s leaders - mimicking politicians most everywhere - rarely give enough consideration to residents with limited or fixed incomes.
As an example, look at the city’s long-ignored Southside, an area teeming with residents and businesses, but historically and continually overlooked without justification. Another is today’s cute new trend of city and county leaders treating insurance premium taxes like a piggybank, raising rates to fund pet projects and prop up sagging budgets.
But those are topics for another time. The editorial board cites these inequities not as direct criticisms - not yet, anyway - but in appreciation of a local entity we believe acted recently in the inverse - in full support of residents struggling to get by.
In late January, West Kentucky Community and Technical College announced a partnership with the University of Louisville to bring a U of L School of Dentistry Clinic to WKCTC beginning this summer.
The clinic, officials said, will be open to the general public, but geared specifically toward helping underserved people, primarily those on Medicaid, which makes up about 28% of the area’s population.
The clinic will also serve as a training ground for dental students, providing them with real-world experience working with diverse, rural patients.
The partnership is an example of creative programming and problem-solving that addresses a need, the kind of forward, civic-minded thinking we want from our public institutions with long reach, influence and public dollars at their disposal.
“It adds to our blueprint that the operative word for us is ’community,’” WKCTC President Anton Reece said.
The correlation between oral health and overall health is well-known: the mouth is a primary entryway into the body, and poor oral health can cause a myriad of negative consequences, like bacteria in the bloodstream, infection and inflammation.
The new clinic is designed to make access to that critical care affordable to anyone, said T. Gerard Bradley, UL School of Dentistry dean.
“We’re at about 50 or 60% of what the going commercial rate is out there,” Bradley said.
“We’ve got to make our costs. We have to have a sustainable clinic, so it’s not a free dental clinic, but it certainly is an affordable clinic, and for the Medicaid population, it’s a great resource for them to get out of pain, get the pathology dealt with, and hopefully get them on the road to dental health.”
Thank you, WKCTC and U of L, for teaming to offer this crucial new service to residents who need it. Your clinic may not be fancy or shiny; it may not make for good campaign material or social media posts, but it has the potential to be something much greater:
A difference maker.
Online: https://www.paducahsun.com
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