Many school districts don’t charge enough to cover the cost of “paid lunches” for students whose families’ incomes are too high to qualify for free or reduced-price lunches. As a result, some districts divert part of the federal subsidies they receive for meals for low-income children to subsidize meals for better-off children, leaving less money to improve what’s on the plate.
When school districts don’t generate enough revenue to cover the cost of paid meals, they cannot serve the highest quality food. To address this problem, Congress in 2010 adopted a paid lunch equity provision under which districts that generate less revenue for each paid lunch than for each free lunch must gradually increase non-federal revenue or raise prices by five or ten cents a year.
Unfortunately, a pending bill would exempt most school districts from paid lunch equity. The bill’s supporters argue that a resulting price increase, amounting to no more than an extra $2 per month per child, would prevent or discourage many families from buying school meals. But undermining paid lunch equity would squander the opportunity to protect subsidies for low-income children.
Source: Center for Budget and Policy Priorities, 6/26/13, School Lunch
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