A few kids at Wawasee High School must have gotten a laugh out of the napkins they were given in the lunch line one day last week.

The napkins were printed. They said:

It's a napkin ... It's a game ... It's fun! Bachelorette's last night out!

Who knows the Bachelorette best? Napkin trivia game!

You unfold the napkin to get to the questions about the bachelorette.

The napkin notes on the front that it is "For Adults Only!"

The questions inside were about "making whoopee," underwear and lingerie.

The minute school officials found out about the napkins, they were removed.

None of the questions were graphic or X-rated, but certainly one must wonder why in the world a high school would dole out napkins like that to its students in the lunch line.

The answer is simple.

The school corporation is trying to save money.

The napkins are overruns or blems from a local printer. The local printer has a list of local non-profits and other organizations that are very happy to receive the napkins.

The school is on the list and receives big boxes of free napkins.

It saves the school money.

In one of the boxes, a small quantity - less than 100 - were the "bachelorette" bar napkins. (That's like an inch-high stack.)

When cooks grabbed a bunch of napkins out of the box, the bar napkins went along, undetected.

Around a dozen students received a bar napkin before cooks were alerted and snapped up the rest of them.

Don't be alarmed, Wawasee patrons, the napkin thing was a simple mistake and the school will continue to accept the free napkins, with a little better screening process in place.

Frankly, I admire the school corporation's frugality. I have nothing against school corporations saving tax dollars.

And these days, schools in Indiana are quite cash-strapped. Lots of schools are eliminating teaching positions and summer school in an attempt to make ends meet.

So bring on the free napkins, no problem.

But really, what we're talking about here isn't napkins, is it?

We're talking about the plight of public schools in Indiana and the United States for that matter.

We're talking about why more and more parents each year are taking their kids out of public schools.

We're talking about how lots of parents have lost faith in public education.

I think that's really sad.

And usually, the students who leave public schools are the better students, not the ones who are at risk.

I don't pretend to have the answers.

I don't pretend to an expert on education, but it seems to me, the more the federal government gets involved, the more problems we have.

It also seems to me that throwing money at the problem won't make it go away.

I know that schools are faced with lots of unfunded mandates from the federal government.

That means government tells schools they must do this or that but then doesn't give them the money to do it.

And there are tons of these mandates.

Many are education-related. Programs such as special education, class-size reduction, bilingual education.

But many aren't.

Things like the Americans With Disabilities Act or the Family and Medical Leave Act.

And then there are Asbestos Abatement and Inspections, the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act, the Safe Drinking Water Act, Blood Borne Pathogen Training, Indoor Air Quality Management Plan, Underground Storage Tank Certification, Playground Safety Standards, Healthy School Meals Initiative ...

You get the picture.

School districts are required to respond to literally hundreds of laws from federal sources on a daily basis.

And on top of that, mandates from the federal government in other programs administered by states draw funds away from education.

More than one governor has lamented that there is a forced trade-off between Medicaid and education funding, for example. According to the Heritage Foundation, in the past five years, education funding declined as a share of state spending because new Medicaid mandates consume more and more state resources.

It's not that the mandated programs aren't worthwhile or don't have worthwhile goals. They just suck up a lot of resources.

The items I've listed are only a fraction of the federal laws with which schools must comply. And did you notice we really haven't talked at all about learning?

It's not as if we don't spend tons of money on education.

Total federal, state and local expenditures on education were $389 billion in 199-2000.

That is 72 percent more than 1980 in inflation-adjusted dollars.

What has happened to achievement in those same years? Nothing. It has remained flat.

In 2000, 68 percent of fourth- graders couldn't read at a proficient level.

I really think the federal government needs to back off with the unfunded mandates. This would free up valuable time and money that could be devoted to education.

All the resources dedicated to compliance with these laws are resources drawn away from the true mission of schools.

That's helping our kids learn, in case we have forgotten.

So, really, is it any wonder schools are opting for free napkins? [[In-content Ad]]