TN Lawmaker Pushes Free School Lunch Plan
Proposal enjoys broad public support
A Nashville legislator filed a bill that would make school meals free for all kids.
Rep. John Ray Clemmons has been fighting for this reasonable and popular policy since 2018.
Unfortunately, even a bill that would prevent “lunch shaming” was voted down in a House subcommittee - not once, but twice.
This year’s free lunch bill continues an effort by Clemmons to have the state pick up the cost of school lunch for all kids.
According to the filing, the cost of the initiative would be covered by all available federal funding followed by reimbursements from the state to each local education agency.
A recent poll from Vanderbilt found that 9 in 10 parents support the idea of free school meals.
Not only that, but evidence also suggests Tennessee has a significant school meal debt problem.
According to a recent article in Salon, students in K-12 public schools in Tennessee owe a total of more than $50 million in school lunch debt.
The state has spent $500 million for a new Titans stadium and $1.6 billion on a corporate tax giveaway.
Those two expenses alone are three times the cost of providing free school meals for all kids in Tennessee public schools.
Rather than fund school lunches, lawmakers and Gov. Lee seek annually to find new schemes that would use taxpayer money to fund unaccountable private schools.
Rather than fund school lunches or boost teacher pay or invest in Medicaid expansion, or end the grocery tax, lawmakers have found a dizzying array of ways to reduce revenue by lowering or eliminating taxes paid by the wealthy or corporations.
Speaking of ending the grocery tax, Clemmons’ Nashville colleague Rep. Aftyn Behn has a bill that would do just that:
Imagine a Tennessee where all school meals were free and there was no tax on groceries.
The state can afford to make this dream a reality. So far, Gov. Bill Lee and his Republican allies are not interested.
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The hypocrisy of the Republican Extreme is astounding, the same group that is pushing pro-life policies to save the children, don’t want to feed the children.
Great story. Thanks!