Lunch Debt and Cheese Sandwiches

Let me count the ways Missouri kids suffer under a GOP supermajority.

Let me start this post with a story. A story that might sound like a feel-good narrative until you you think long and hard on it.

A 5th grader in Blue Springs, MO was rightly praised by community members and the media after he raised enough money to pay off the lunch debts of his fellow elementary school classmates…the lunch debts of children. This sweet and kind gesture is a smack in the face to many of us, though.

Why is there lunch debt in elementary schools in the first place?

Meme via “The Other 98%”

Several states provide breakfast and lunch for school kids at no cost to the child’s family. After a year of lunches provided during the pandemic, it is a systemic failure of a state to not feed kids. In fact, the Missouri lawmakers who refuse to take up legislation to feed every kid accept a daily per diem to pay for their own lunch and expenses…a per diem paid for by taxpayers.

A little math here: Missouri has 163 State Reps and 34 State Senators. The Reps receive $121 per day each session in per diem for a total of $19,723. The Senators receive $125.60 per day each session in per diem for a total of 4,270.40.

When combined, Missouri legislators bill the taxpayers 23,993.40 per day during the session. That total would pay for the lunches of around 6,800 kids.

To be clear: I don’t think we should deny per diem to lawmakers, but I do think lawmakers who get a “free lunch” have a lot of nerve not feeding Missouri school kids.

I won’t get into the many reasons as to why parents aren’t providing money for lunch, but think of this: if you are a waitress, and make too much to qualify for free/reduced lunch, but have a few weeks of bad tips, you can see how a kid could fall through the cracks.

Every school approaches lunch debt differently, but I have worked in schools that cut off meals to kids after $25 of debt. Yes, I mean they refuse a tray to these kids. The kids don’t eat.

I also worked in one school where any amount of debt meant you were served a different meal. A peanut butter or cheese sandwich as opposed to the paid, hot meal. This is painfully obvious to the child and to their classmates that they have no money in their lunch account. It shames the kid walking to a table with a cheese sandwich.

But, most of the schools I worked in, and most of those I am aware of, just feed the kids. They dip into their already defunded budgets and pay for student lunches.

Wouldn’t it just be easier for Missouri to follow the lead of other states and pay for food in schools?

You may be asking yourself where the money would come from, and I have a quick answer: Missouri is sitting on billions in surplus. BILLIONS. The least we can do is spend some of that surplus on feeding kids, but you have to understand that our GOP supermajority would rather spend that money on tax cuts for the wealthy or sending tax dollars to private religious schools.

Missouri has been under the boot of a GOP supermajority for 22 years. Over two decades. Can I share some facts about my “pro-life” state, specifically related to our children?

Read it and weep.

In Missouri, a child of an unspecified age may open carry a loaded rifle down Missouri streets, because the GOP supermajority refused to mandate a minimum age to carry a loaded gun.

In Missouri, a child who has been the victim of sexual assault will be required to bear any resulting pregnancy.

In Missouri, more than 30% of school districts run a 4-day-week due to a lack of funding provided by the state.

In Missouri, over 1/2 of children live in spaces deemed childcare deserts.

In Missouri, 80% of children test positive for lead in their blood.

In Missouri, child labor laws are being gutted.

In Missouri, child marriage is still legal.

It’s overwhelming to read the statistics on Missouri children when we live under a GOP supermajority — a supermajority that claims to be the “pro-life” and “family values” party.

What exactly qualifies as “pro-life” under a GOP supermajority? Forced birth. That’s it. Nothing for actual children.

Missouri is not a pro-life state. Many of our lawmakers quite literally do not care about life. They care about birth. You’re on your own after that, kid.

~Jess