The Chris Britt cartoon on Sunday’s Opinion page, showing a school official pledging allegiance vending-machine junk food and the “revenue for which it stands,” is almost a literal slice from my past – right down to the physical appearance of the main character, who looks like my former boss, the principal of Fletcher High School in Neptune Beach, Fla.

ne of my colleagues and I, both former naval officers, had expressed consternation that we as teachers were not modeling good nutritional standards for our students. There was a district policy on the books that vending machines be made inaccessible to students during lunch time. When we pointed this out to the principal, he said, “That is all well and good, but we rely on the revenue from those machines to pay for the athletic team buses. Where else are we going to get the money?” or words to that effect.

The athletic programs were truly this principal’s baby. The year I left there Fletcher had very plush athletic facilities under construction. I was to get about $20,000 to upgrade my chemistry lab. This never materialized. But, the athletic facilities turned out to be so extensive and luxurious that the Seattle Seahawks used them as a field training facility for an extended stay on the East Coast.

When it comes to education it isn’t always what we say, but what we do that the children remember. If we model to them that creeping consumerism wins out over public support for education, then we will get a generation of high consuming, marginally educated people.

Marysville