National School Lunch Program is Leaving Students Hungry

One child whose family is struggling financially is provided with a free school lunch, while another child whose family is also struggling financially is left hungry. This scenario doesn’t seem like that would happen today in America, but it is. We need Congress to act and fix it.

Right now, an antiquated law is forcing American families to choose between feeding their children and their child’s education. In 1946, the federal government created a landmark program, the National School Lunch Program (NSLP), which has helped millions of food-insecure American children receive free lunch at their schools. But it never contemplated online schools. 

The NSLP is a vital program to the nearly 21.7 million children, but how it's written is leaving countless students without access to the program — because virtual public schools do not qualify in what amounts to a modern-day technicality. The law specifies that free lunches must be provided at a school building and consumed on-site.

For example, in California, 74 percent of the 5,400 students attending the California Virtual Academy at Los Angeles public virtual schools will go without federally-funded free and reduced lunches while their peers at brick-and-mortar schools receive important nutrition during their school day.

In Texas, according to state data, just under half of the nearly 9,000 students attending the Texas Connections Academy at Houston are economically disadvantaged but do not receive free lunches.

Many virtual school families don’t apply for help because they know their children cannot benefit solely due to the type of public school they attend.

As we approach the quarter mark of the 21st century, it's time to remedy this situation because the need is beyond desperate, and it slices across the country. Fortunately, we’ve already seen an impressive scale-up for the program during the coronavirus pandemic.

With emergency powers, the U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) allowed all qualifying brick-and-mortar students attending school remotely to still receive their free lunch. In many communities, school districts got creative and came up with plans to deliver or schedule pick-up times for the free meals. Ohio allowed students and families to access food through their EBT cards, similar to welfare programs. 

It should go without saying, but addressing hunger issues of American children shouldn’t depend on where a child attends school. Even worse, this outdated technicality is forcing parents to choose schools that may not be the best fit for their child’s learning needs. 

Congress empowered the USDA with broad flexibility during the pandemic and would need to grant them new authority to allow all schools serving otherwise eligible students learning in an online environment to participate in the school lunch and breakfast programs. 

No parent should have to choose between providing the best education for their child and making sure the child is fed. Many students enroll with severe credit deficiency and see a virtual education as their last best hope to catch up and succeed. Others choose virtual schools for a variety of reasons, including: flexibility in scheduling; learning at their own pace; for medical reasons; or bullying. Whatever the reason, virtual education provides parents with a proven public-school option. 

By prohibiting these families from accessing the vital benefits provided under the NSLP, current law forces children to remain in schools that may not fit their child’s needs just so they don't go hungry. It's an unnecessary hurdle that must be brought down once and for all. Every child who qualifies for a school meal should have equal access to that benefit.

It's time for Congress and the USDA to make sure an antiquated technicality no longer makes children go hungry just because of the public school they attend. 

Letrisha Weber is the president of the National Coalition of Public School Options.