Daily Herald opinion: Federal policies should be in place to ensure that every school student can get two meals a day
This editorial is a consensus opinion of the Daily Herald Editorial Board.
With the well-established link between academic performance and proper nutrition, you'd think free school meals would be a no-brainer.
During the economic crisis caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Congress waived fees for school meals, but it didn't renew the measure for the 2022-23 school year.
This May, both chambers of the Illinois General Assembly passed House Bill 2471 - sponsored by Rockford Democrat Maurice West II in the House and Naperville Democrat Laura Ellman in the Senate - to create a Healthy School Meals for All Program administered by the state Board Of Education. On Aug. 11, Gov. J.B. Pritzker approved it.
In short, the law calls for additional reimbursement for schools that accept federal assistance to serve free and reduced-cost breakfasts and lunches to needy students.
Additional reimbursement is significant - nearly 47% of Illinois students were considered low-income in 2022, according to Illinois Report Card data - but it's subject to appropriation, meaning legislators still have to include universal school meals in next state budget.
Moreover, the administrative hoops that school districts must jump through to verify income eligibility and apply for money at the federal level are onerous.
Imagine the money that could be saved simply if Congress eliminated the bureaucracy - money that instead could be used to ensure that every student, regardless of family income, gets two meals every school day, without stigma.
It's not a new idea. Former U.S. Rep. Richard Nolan of Minnesota introduced a universal school meal bill in 2016, and there have been various incarnations of the legislation in the years since, including proposals submitted by Sen. Bernie Sanders of Vermont and Rep. Ilhan Omar of Minnesota this May.
Not one has made it to a floor Yvote. But the idea deserves attention. Yes, oversight would be needed to monitor and mimize food waste, and, yes, provisions can be made to ensure that students facing hunger risk have funding priority over those from families fully capable of providing their own breakfasts and lunches. But these are details that can be managed effectively with carefully drawn legislation and effective federal oversight.
Every kid deserves a full belly. Students shouldn't have to prove they're poor. And the ones who don't qualify for free lunch but whose parents struggle to pay for reduced-cost meals shouldn't have to suffer the shame of "lunch debt" at the end of each school year.
Standardized tests show a precipitous drop in math and reading skills during the pandemic disruption. It's going to take a lot to reverse the COVID-19 learning loss.
A good place to start, however, is at the table.