Teachers’ jobs or food stamps?
Cut food stamps to save teachers’ jobs? Say what? Given the current economy, schools have gotten used to making do with less, but the latest attempt to improve the situation may have led school advocates to a desperate-seeming choice. Last week the House passed a bill to stave off layoffs of 300,000 teachers and other public employees. The bill provides $10 billion in funding for schools, directing them to rehire teachers who were previously let go and wait before making any further layoffs.
Then there’s the matter of food stamps. To pay for the bill, Democrats voted for $12 billion in cuts to food stamp benefits for the poor. The cuts, which would take effect in 2014, work out to $59 per month less for a family of four who receives a little over $400 per month. I