The Obama administration announced plans today for a pilot program to increase the number of low-income children who have access to the National School Lunch Program.
Let’s see: Poor kids + free lunch = common sense, compassion, and students better equipped to concentrate in school, leading to increased opportunities for successful outcomes down the line. Then there’s + conservative temper tantrum + last year of office = #Winning.
According to the National Center for Children in Poverty, “22% of all children in the United States–more than 16 million live in families with incomes below the federal poverty level.”
“Most of these children have parents who work, but low wages and unstable employment leave their families struggling to make ends meet. Poverty can impede children’s ability to learn and contribute to social, emotional, and behavioral problems. Poverty also can contribute to poor health and mental health. Risks are greatest for children who experience poverty when they are young and/or experience deep and persistent poverty.”
Which is pretty much the rationale behind the Black Panther Party for Self Defense’s free breakfast program initiated in the late 1960s and early 1970s. The Panthers’ program, however, didn’t receive any federal support. At all.
The process to be certified for the free and reduced-price lunch program involves a labor-intensive application by both parents and schools. The new program would allow states that participate in the program to use Medicaid data to certify students for the lunches. Currently, students who come from families that already participate in government assistance programs do not automatically qualify.