Failed Society

First it was the alarming statistic that 1 in 6 children in Hartford have at least one parent in the penal system, now comes another charming tidbit: Hartford schools rate dead last in cafeteria safety:

Of the 20 jurisdictions evaluated, Hartford, Conn., received the lowest score, 37 out of a possible 100. Hartford had the highest number of critical violations, including multiple cases of dirty equipment and utensils, inadequate hand-washing facilities, and poor personnel hygiene. Hartford also had infrequent inspections (on average, one per year, violating the federal requirements for two inspections), poor access to inspection reports, and a weak food code.

Nice. When contacted for comment the person most responsible opted for the statistical dodge:

"I'm a little disappointed with the presentation of ... 'last in the country' when only 20 school districts were looked at," said Lonnie Burt, the district's food service director.

Would it make you feel better if Hartford were rated dead last out of 50, 250, or 10,000 districts? Or if Hartford were ahead of a handful of dirt poor districts in some dirt poor states? A rough estimate of per student spending in Hartford is nearly $9,500.00 a year. How about some accountability for that money?