Every day, public school students are issued many of the supplies they need to succeed at school, including laptops, textbooks, lockers, and lab equipment, but many education advocates are saying one crucial school supply is still missing: lunch.
“I was just looking at all the kids with their Chromebooks out yesterday, and I thought, ‘We all agreed that was important. Why can’t we agree that food is important?’ Why can’t we just give all our students free lunch?” asked Regina McLean, president of the Port Washington Teachers Association.
That’s exactly what would happen if Gov. Kathy Hochul’s new universal meals proposal is approved by the Legislature this year. The initiative, part of Hochul’s executive budget, would cover school meals for all of New York’s 2.7 million students, and finish the work that was started two years prior.
In 2023, after years of successful advocacy by NYSUT and others, the USDA expanded the Community Eligibility Provision, giving 2.37 million New York children access to free school meals. However, the federal expansion project and accompanying state subsidies still left nearly 300,000 students without. The governor’s proposal would close the gap for New York’s remaining students, something hunger advocates say is imperative.
“Anything short of statewide universal free school meals misses too many families,” said Jessica Pino-Goodspeed, deputy director of public affairs for Hunger Solutions New York. “When it’s not free for all, school meals are perceived as a program just for low-income students, causing the kids who need it most opt out to avoid being singled out as a 'poor kid.'”
Many families live above the qualifying income threshold, which is $58,000 for a family of four, meaning they aren’t eligible for free meals, but still can’t afford breakfast and lunch every day, Pino-Goodspeed explained. This is particularly true in the areas of New York where the majority of schools are currently without universal school meals – which are also the communities with the highest cost of living in New York, she added.
The governor’s proposal would help address gaps in the very communities where the cost of living regularly outstrips paychecks, places like Port Washington in Nassau County.
According to the Economic Policy Institute, which calculates the local cost of living, a family of four living in Nassau County would need to make $161,398 to attain a modest, yet adequate standard of living in this Long Island community.
“I’ve lived here for 20 years, and I feel like the middle class has shrunk, because housing prices have gone up so much,” said McLean. While an estimated 21 percent of families live below the poverty level, many more are struggling to make ends meet in this high-cost community, she said. “It would help so many.”
At Hewlett-Woodmere Public Schools, also in Nassau County, all students have had access to free breakfast and free lunch since 2023 through the CEP program, and it’s made a world of difference, said Joann Brown, president of Hewlett Woodmere Faculty Association. “It’s a win-win. Happy students. Happy families” she said.
Prior to the expansion of CEP, so many local students were slipping through the cracks, Brown said. Families had to fill out an application, and if they made one penny over the threshold, they wouldn’t qualify. “It was so frustrating,” she said. “Now everyone has access to meals, so that’s one more variable we can check off.”
In the Tonawanda City School District in Erie County, universal meals have been available to students through the CEP for five years.
“The universal meals program at Tonawanda has made a major impact on students in our district,” said Maureen Zarcone, president of the Tonawanda Education Association. “Students are guaranteed a healthy meal, and it can take away some of the stigma that may be associated with receiving a free meal. In the end, students can now focus on learning rather than where their next meal comes from.”
Tonawanda schools serve about 1,660 students – 50.6 percent are considered economically disadvantaged. But with the cost of living hovering close to $112,000 in Erie County, many families may not qualify for assistance but still need help getting by.
“Without this program, just under 50 percent of our students would not be receiving universal meals, and many of those families are still struggling. In our community, some families find themselves to be over the threshold by as little as $50,” Zarcone said.
Universal school meals provide welcome financial relief for families because free meals save families about $165 on average per month, per child.
“That’s huge for families,” said McLean. “That means they can pay the electric bill this month.”
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