A Montgomery County Councilman railed against a popular school fundraiser Thursday, comparing a McDonald’s McTeacher Night to inviting children to a tobacco shop.
“Would we have a school fundraiser at a cigarette store?” asked George Leventhal, chair of the council’s Health and Human Services Committee.
McTeacher Nights, held at local McDonald’s franchises, involve school staff working the registers while students and families stop in to eat. In exchange, the franchise donates a percentage of the night’s profit to the school. This year, PTAs at Baker Middle School in Damascus and Cedar Grove Elementary in Germantown sponsored such fundraisers.
The flap over McTeacher nights arose during committee meetings in Rockville, where representatives from the Center for Science in the Public Interest presented a study of food marketing in Montgomery County schools.
In exchange for fundraisers at places such as McDonald’s, they recommended exercise-a-thons, cell phone recycling programs and book fairs.
“The modest rewards to schools are not worth the long-term costs to children’s health and well-being,” said Ameena Batada, co-author of the report.
Sara Cailler, vice president of Cedar Grove’s PTA, called the McDonald’s events a spirited success. Citing a recent national news story about sick cows used for school lunches, she recommended Leventhal direct his concern to cafeterias.
And there’s a track record of supporting the effort, too. In 2006 the school board honored Germantown McDonald’s owner Glenn Kikuchi with a distinguished-service award for hosting the McTeacher events.
Soso Whaley finds nothing wrong with the McDonald’s option. In 2004 she documented her weight-loss regimen in an hour-long documentary, “Me and Mickey D.” For 30 days, she ate nothing but McDonald’s, losing 10 pounds and 45 cholesterol points.
“I made healthy choices and ate off of the single-item menu — not the value meals,” Whaley said. “You don’t have to be afraid of McDonald’s. It’s a burger joint.”
Council President Mike Knapp, sipping a bottle of Mountain Dew, was less livid than Leventhal about the fundraisers.
“It’s a situation that’s well-intended,” he said. “You don’t want to wind up being the anti-fun police.”
