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Connections

Coming up on Connections: Friday, January 26

First hour: Investigative journalist David Cay Johnston on his new book, It’s Even Worse Than You Think

Second hour: School lunch shaming in Rochester's suburbs

Investigative journalist David Cay Johnston has written a new book on the Trump administration. In It’s Even Worse Than You Think: What the Trump Administration Is Doing to America, Johnston writes that Trump is unlike any president before him; he says the evidence is that Trump’s entire focus is on enriching and helping himself. The book seeks to explain all of the ways that the administration is serving insular interests and not the common good. Johnston joins us in studio for the hour.

Then in our second hour, on any given day last spring, nearly one in 10 children in the Rochester suburbs had a negative balance on a school lunch account. Because of that, many were denied lunch. That’s according to a recent Democrat & Chronicle report by Justin Murphy. He explored what’s known as “lunch shaming” in Rochester-area districts. The practice refers to schools across the state withholding food, providing alternate meals, making students “earn” their lunch by doing chores, or giving students wristbands identifying them as truant if they can’t pay for meals. In some schools, staff even throw lunches in the garbage if students pick up food and cannot pay once they reach the register. We’ll discuss the policies of local districts, and changes that may be coming at the state level. Our guests:

  • Justin Murphy, education reporter at the Democrat & Chronicle
  • Debbi Beauvais, school nutrition director at Gates Chili, East Rochester, and East Irondequoit Central School Districts
  • Casey Kosiorek, superintendent of the Hilton Central School District
  • Mike Bulger, healthy communities coordinator for the Healthi Kids coalition at Common Ground Health
  • Kiara Warren, parent

Connections
Evan Dawson is the host of "Connections with Evan Dawson." He joined WXXI in January 2014 after working at 13WHAM-TV, where he served as morning news anchor. He was hired as a reporter for 13WHAM-TV in 2003 before being promoted to anchor in 2007.
Megan Mack is the executive producer of "Connections with Evan Dawson" and live/televised engagement programming.