Just feed the kids already. It’s time for WA schools to stop failing our children | Opinion

Here’s the good news: Plenty of state lawmakers in Olympia realize the importance of making sure kids don’t go hungry — particularly while they’re trying to learn.

Knowing that federal COVID-19-related funding that made free meals available to all students in the midst of the pandemic would eventually dry up, legislators have taken action in recent years. In 2020, they passed legislation that required school districts to apply for a U.S. Department of Agriculture program that allows high-poverty schools to provide free meals without requiring household applications. And, last year, they took steps to make participation easier for districts.

While the USDA’s Community Eligibility Provision program isn’t new, the most recent move was expected to double the number of Washington students who received no-questions-asked free meals at school. It was welcome news in places like Tacoma, where meeting the USDA’s criteria for free school meals is depressingly easy.

So what’s the bad news?

Efforts to expand on that progress — and add Washington to the small list of states that have permanently adopted universal free meals programs — appear to be flagging.

As Crosscut’s Venice Buhain recently reported, bills in the state House and Senate have been introduced this session that would define school meals as part of basic education, thus requiring all schools to provide free breakfast and lunch to students, regardless of income or other onerous qualification requirements.

Unfortunately, the House’s version of the bill, HB 1238, was recently watered down, transforming it from a piece of groundbreaking legislation into a slow-rolled expansion that — while helpful — greatly underestimates the moment and the urgency.

In other words, hopes and dreams of seeing universal free school meals become a reality this session have been dashed — put on the back burner in favor of other education priorities.

That’s disheartening in our view. We understand change takes time and that the estimated $96 million a year providing free meals in schools would require isn’t pocket change. But it’s past time for Washington legislators to commit to something that should be basic, making sure that each and every student gets fed.

And let’s be brutally honest, particularly on behalf of parents who are already familiar with the no-cost meals their kids have brought home in recent years:

In a better world, we wouldn’t be having a conversation about whether universal school meals are a worthy investment.

Instead, we would have accepted that fact long ago and turned our attention to something just as important — making sure that the food we’re providing students with is high-quality and nutritious, not something that looks and tastes as free as it is. (Sadly, that often isn’t the case today.)

On Thursday, Tacoma state Sen. T’wina Nobles, who sponsored the Senate’s version of this year’s universal school meals legislation, acknowledged the reality of the situation this year in Olympia. She said that making investments in other under-funded areas of education — like special education — has taken precedence in the state Legislature this session.

Nobles said she understands the need to prioritize and supports lawmakers’ focus on other areas of education funding this year — while also noting that, even with recent changes, the House’s version of this year’s bill represents an improvement.

Still, at the same time, Nobles said she remains committed to universal school meals for all — because the system we have now is failing, and it’s cruel.

“I’ve heard testimony from parents who have said, ‘Stop feeding my kids. I can’t afford it. I’m never going to be able to pay you the negative balance.’ That shouldn’t be the case for any of our families,” Nobles said.

“At the end of the day, students are going to perform better academically and socially if they are not hungry, and if they don’t have to deal with the stigma of who has money and who doesn’t,” she continued. “I care too much about our students and their academic and social futures to not keep pushing the importance of this legislation.”

It’s certainly good to hear from an elected leader representing Tacoma, because Nobles is exactly right.

For far too long, the state has failed in its obligation to public education, in the classroom and in the lunchroom. We’ve allowed annual stories about outstanding school lunch debts being paid off by philanthropic do-gooders or GoFundMe campaigns to become the norm, and as with so many other things, we’ve embraced a soulless system that treats families in need like second-class citizens, as if there’s no other way

Just feed the kids already.

This really isn’t hard.

The News Tribune Editorial Board is: Matt Driscoll, opinion editor; Stephanie Pedersen, TNT president and editor; Jim Walton, community representative; Amanda Figueroa, community representative; Kent Hojem, community representative.