Half of Washington students qualify for lunch aid
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Nearly 50% of Washington students — or roughly 538,000 kids — are eligible for free or reduced-price school lunch, according to the National Center for Education Statistics.
Why it matters: Teachers nationwide are increasingly worried about childhood hunger, with three-quarters reporting students come to school hungry, according to a survey of 1,000 K-12 public school teachers in the U.S.
Zoom out: Nearly 8 in 10 (78%) of teachers said they were concerned about food insecurity in the communities where they teach, per the survey.
The big picture: Proposed cuts to the federal Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program food assistance program, serving more than 41 million Americans, and federal funding cuts to free school meals could increase hunger, experts say.
- Around 40% of SNAP benefits go to children, per USDA data.
What they're saying: "SNAP is one of the most effective tools we have as a nation to address childhood hunger," Sarah Steely, director of No Kid Hungry Virginia, told Axios.
- "It provides families with that extra help to put food on the table so that kids can have access to consistent nutrition all year round, especially filling the void during school breaks."
What we're watching: A push by Washington legislators to expand free school meals this year — part of a broader initiative backed by Gov. Bob Ferguson — is stalled amid a $12 billion state budget shortfall.