Just Another School Lunch Debt Story
When will we make school meals free for all kids?
Kids should not have school meal debt.
Kids should not be prevented from going to prom or walking line at graduation because of unpaid school meals.
School districts should not be considering hiring debt collectors to collect school lunch debt.
Schools should not send kids to the office for an “alternative” meal if they have school lunch debt.
And yet, here we are.
Another story about school lunch debt. A story about a successful effort to raise money to cancel said debt. A story that should remind us that the very idea of school lunch debt is insane.
Kids can now eat without breaking the piggy bank – at least, at Thomas Ultican Elementary School – thanks to fifth grader Daken Kramer.
Daken paid off the entire meal debt and then some, for his elementary school in Blue Springs, Missouri, after turning in a check for more than $7,300. Daken’s original goal was $3,500, which was just over the total of the school’s debt, according to Daken’s mother, Vanessa Kramer. The remaining amount was given to Blue Springs High School, another school in the district.
I wrote recently about a district in Tennessee where the community raised money to cancel the school lunch debt of all graduating seniors.
Words into Action: Canceling School Lunch Debt
The existence of school lunch debt represents policy failure. Yet recent reports suggest that the combined school lunch debt in Tennessee exceeds $50 million. For just over $700 million, the state of Tennessee could fund free school meals for all kids every year.
Instead of funding free school meals for all kids, I noted:
TN spent $500 million to pitch in for a new Titans stadium. The state has $700 million in unspent TANF funds. And for the last decade, Tennessee has run annual budget surpluses in the $1-$2 billion range.
We could feed kids at school - if policymakers wanted to.
It’s a pretty crazy world when kids face a debt burden because they need to eat at school but billionaires with sports teams get hundreds of millions in handouts from state and local governments.
Good for this kid in Missouri for raising money and helping out his classmates.
And good for the people in Wilson County, TN who helped out graduating seniors by canceling their school lunch debt.
But the fact that these actions are even necessary represents a persistent policy failure.
Disgraceful. My parents couldn't afford to pay for lunch so I took my lunch. But I was luck and had parents who could and did prepare lunches. That is not so common today!! But our Tennessee leaders don't want to take care of the children that are in some way in their care every school day... Maybe they should think on that.
Our district started providing free lunch to everyone, which has been so lovely…however I can no longer bribe my seniors with “pass my class and I’ll pay off your lunch debt,” lol.