Those of you who think that who drives kids to school or who fixes them their lunch doesn’t affect how well they learn the three Rs are wrong, according to a union rep: From busing children to school to making their lunchtime meals, private companies are increasingly performing work traditionally done by school district employees, a National Education Association official said in Cheyenne on Wednesday. If not reversed, that trend has the potential to seriously damage the country’s public education system, said NEA Secretary-Treasurer Lily Eskelsen. “We think there are certain things that are public services that shouldn’t be at the mercy of CEO stock options,” Eskelsen said. If private provision of non-core duties makes it harder for kids to learn their ABCs, maybe we should re-examine schools’ practice of using private sector paper and pencils. Perhaps it would be best to form a “pencil providers” division within the NEA, after all, we shouldn’t let those fat cat pencil CEOs put their profits before our children.