Michelle Obama's call for school gardens is an all-too-typical Democrat stunt; that is, a muddle-headed proposal that is long on feel-good but very short on efficiency and common sense.For starters, planting and maintaining a school garden means time normally dedicated to such incidentals as math and reading will have to be cut. As if government schools hadn't already chopped enough time from serious academics for pet projects like sex education, sports and politically-correct socialization projects, now the First Lady wants school districts to appropriate time for Lettuce 101.
And using student-workers who haven't even joined the union!
There's also the problem of what gardens attract; that is, after the White House photographers have left. Like insects, rodents and even human scavengers. But will a local school, green enough to go with the First Lady's ideas, be willing to use pesticides to keep their gardens free of ravenous bugs? If they live in places like Maryland, they can't. It's against the law.
Will education officials be comfortable erecting razor-topped fences to keep the radishes safe from human poachers?
And what will they do about the rabbits, voles, weasels, and rats? We've already got some terribly serious rodent problems in our schools. A recent Washington Post story spoke of a Montgomery County school that has 42 rat traps placed around its classrooms! And now we want to pull in a few more of the dirty critters by planting gardens around the perimeter? Have fun, kids. And make sure you've got your rabies shots.
But perhaps the most obvious shortcoming in the First Lady's scheme is the point explained by Montgomery County Schools Superintendent Jerry Weast; namely, that vegetable gardens are extremely labor-intensive. They require regular watering and weeding. But most of the work is needed in the summer when, of course, the kids and students are gone on vacation!
You would have thought that even a Democrat would have noticed that pesky fact.
There's an old saw that goes, "You can bury a lot of troubles by digging in the dirt." The educators who try and carry out the First Lady's dubious proposals are going to learn another one, "A poor garden brings more vexation than vegetables."
