Given that student loan debt is a crisis, it tends to be the focus of conversation when it comes to debt relief in education. Rep. Ilhan Omar, Democrat of Minnesota, however, has highlighted another debt problem in education: school lunch debt.
Last Wednesday, Omar and Democratic U.S. Sen. Tina Smith, also of Minnesota, introduced a bill known as the No Shame at School Act to eliminate the school lunch debt shaming practices that continue to terrorize kids and teenagers. “Across this country, students whose families are struggling to afford school meals are being singled out and humiliated at lunchtime,” said Omar.
Not all families can afford the cost of school meals for their children. Schools have reacted in some traumatizing ways: Whether it’s identifying kids who are in “lunch debt” with a wristband or separate lunch line, or using actual debt collectors to get money from parents, these practices embarrass kids and cause strain on families.
Mind you, for many kids, these lunches are the only meals they can consistently rely on. The last thing low-income kids and their families need is more stress or shame surrounding food.
"Everyone knows you can't learn or perform well when you are hungry. We need to support students in Minnesota and across the country by ensuring that kids are not humiliated because of an inability to pay for lunch," Smith said in a
statement.
"Just take a look at Trump's budget, which would cut $1.7 billion from the child nutrition program and eliminate food assistance to millions," Rep. Omar said.
Schools would receive federal reimbursement for unpaid meals within 90 days, provided that they follow a certification process outlined in the bill. “We are a nation of tremendous wealth. Hunger in this country is the result of policies that keep wages low and funnel wealth to the top,” Omar continued. “It is the result of a political system that says it is OK to spend money on tax breaks for millionaires and the same companies who taint our economy, but we can’t afford to fund meals for our kids in the streets.”
Omar tweeted about her bill:
People on Twitter, on the whole, also want to see the concept of school lunch “debt” ended.
On a state level, a few places, including Virginia, California, and New Mexico, have already banned shaming practices in relation to student lunch debt.
Another face you might recognize from Omar’s press conference is Valerie Castile, who in May personally donated $8,000 to Robbinsdale Cooper High School in New Hope, Minnesota, to pay off lunch debt for students. Castile’s son, Philando Castile, was shot and killed by police in 2016. Before his death, he worked in a school cafeteria and was loved by the students. According to Castile, her son often paid for student lunches for kids who couldn’t.
Watch Omar talk about poverty below: