Update 2: So I have seen a message from President Liza Rankin on why she, Director Evan Briggs, and Director Michelle Sarju backed out of this meeting. In a nutshell: - She says there was no organization to the meeting which is just not true. They had a moderator lined up and naturally the board members could have set parameters for what to discuss, length of meeting, etc. All that was fleshed out. - She also claimed that if the meeting was PTA sponsored, they needed to have liability insurance to use the school space. Hello? PTAs use school space all the time and know they have to have this insurance. - She seems to be worried about the Open Public Meetings law. Look, if she has a meeting in a school building on a non-personnel topic, it should be an open meeting. It appears that Rankin is trying, over and over, to narrow the window of access that parents have to Board members. She even says in her message - "...with decisions made in public." Hmmm - She also says that th
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Thus, it bothers me that Starbucks and the other 40 companies are making it easier for these kids to find jobs—minimum wage, I'm sure, and possibly taking a job away from an adult.
NOTE: The info makes a point that the youth should NOT be in school: Coalition of 40 Top U.S. Companies Set to Launch Long-Term Hiring Effort in Seattle to Bring Jobs to Opportunity Youth – 16- to 24-Year-Olds Who Are Not in School or Employed
Does this bother anyone else, or am I alone here?
It's not taking a job, it's giving a new opportunity to someone that doesn't have one. Thought we don't want kids to be taken advantage of, we do want them to have good life experiences.
If a 16 year old isn't going to school, it's good that they are getting life skills and contributing to the community!
I don't think you are the only one opinion, but I hope this helps you see the other side a little more!
What struck me is that the business person she spoke to said that many of the 16-24 unemployed youth are low-income and/or minority and that they're often not offered encouragement about being able to get work. He said something like, "They hear that they'll never get anywhere," and that this is the first time some of them have ever been given positive messages that they can succeed.
So no, I don't think this was a bad thing, and I don't feel that they are taking jobs from adults. Since I work with low-income minority youth, I can tell you that many of them, in or out of school, have the responsibilities of full adults, sometimes responsibilities that would crush adults with a good job or education. I'm happy to see companies willing to take a chance on some of them. Would you rather they remain unemployed and on welfare, or their struggling family go without heat, power or water? That's what some of the working teens I know are helping to provide.
Tenn Advocate