this post was submitted on 15 Jun 2023
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The problem is that, when free lunches are restricted to only kids who can't afford lunch, there's a social pressure NOT to get the free lunch. Kids don't want to stand out as "that poor kid." They'll skip lunch instead of being singled out.
Free lunches for everyone fixes this. Kids can't tell if Jimmy is getting the free lunch because his parents didn't pack him one or because his parents can't afford to feed him. The cost to feed the kids is low and the reward - kids learning, doing well in school, and having a better chance to break the poverty cycle - is high. It's well worth the cost.
that's another factor--even at my school, which was extremely heterogeneous in terms of wealth, this dynamic was pretty obvious. you can't really hide that you get free lunch, because everyone's in a line with you when you pay
My school district found it cost more in administrative overhead to determine who was eligible for free lunch and who wasn't than it was to simply offer it to everyone. We ended up with something resembling the UK medicine model where the basic offering was free to all and "upgrades" were available for a cost. In many students minds, the upgrades sucked. The "rich" kids brought lunch from home.