Words into Action: Canceling School Lunch Debt
One Tennessee community raises funds to relieve students of a debt burden
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, this past legislative closed with the General Assembly giving a $1.6 billion corporate tax break that will be enjoyed by many out-of-state corporations.
One community, however, is taking matters into their own hands.
Citizens in Wilson County have been raising money to cancel school lunch debt.
Nearly $6,000 were raised in the community and will go towards ‘Zone 5’ schools, including Lebanon High School, Tucker’s Crossroads Elementary, and Barry Tatum Academy. Additionally, every senior in the school district had their lunch debts paid, relieving them of a consequential burden.
“In this process…we also discovered that seniors can’t graduate if they have lunch debt,” Cochran explained.
The story noted that despite this debt relief, Wilson County still has some $30,000 in school lunch debt remaining. Neighboring Sumner and Rutherford counties have school lunch debt exceeding $100,000 each, according to WKRN’s reporting.
Community efforts to cancel school lunch debt are admirable. But the state should be stepping up to the plate.
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.
Speaking of canceling debt, some state and local governments are taking action to cancel medical debt.
The State of Arizona and the City of Toledo both recently purchased medical debt on behalf of citizens there.
Tennessee is a national leader in medical bankruptcy. Canceling medical debt here would have a tremendous economic impact.
I would bet that the $1.6 billion state lawmakers spent on corporate tax breaks would buy all or most all of the outstanding medical debt in the state - a clean slate for people who are facing financial ruin for no reason other than they got sick.
This is a great podcast episode about poverty and how it effects generations. Tennessee gets a shout out for how horribly we mismanage funds 😩 https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/kelly-corrigan-wonders/id1532951390?i=1000631582400
Of course, states can pay off lunch debts. My state had a surplus of about $2 Billion from the previous administration.
My state calls it the rainy day fund.