The following comes from Diane Ravitch blog https://dianeravitch.net/2013/04/12/tennessee-starvation-bill-deferred-for-now/:
Good news from Tennessee: The State Legislature will not consider a bill to cut the welfare benefits of families whose children do poorly in school. At least not this year.
Senator Stacey Campfield took note of the fact that several prominent Republican senators planned to oppose the bill, as did the governor.
And Senator Campfield said “we all have true passion to get parents involved.”
So, now we understand his motive. He actually believes that starving the family would encourage parental involvement!
One of the opponents of the bill worried that if the family lost income, the children might be blamed and beaten.
This may be another heartening example of the power of public outrage, the letters, phone calls, and outreach that convinced legislators in Tennessee not to make themselves a national laughing stock.
Getting Jon Stewart’s attention may have turned the tide on this dreadful proposal.
Please do not try to convince me that politicians are intelligent. Imagine taking away food from families in order to convince parents to get involved in their child’s education.