Hunger in America’s public schools represents a serious and heartbreaking issue. As the leader of the nation’s largest educators’ union, I almost daily hear stories of how children struggle and how schools and teachers step in to address the shortfalls. Examples include the school community in Kentucky that established a Blessing Box with food to assist fellow students and families in need, and the teacher in Rhode Island who created a food “recycling” program to prevent waste and provide students with healthy snacks such as cheese sticks, apples, yogurt, and milk.
School meals are more than just a budgetary expense; they are vital lifelines that help millions of students learn and develop. However, as families across America prepare for the new school year, millions of children face the prospect of returning to classrooms without access to these essential school meals.
President Donald Trump’s [unspecified policy], which Republicans overwhelmingly voted to pass, significantly reduces food assistance benefits through the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) by an estimated amount—the cut in American history. These devastating reductions are projected to result in an estimated children losing access to free school meals.
These cuts shift the financial burden of school lunches onto the states, costing them more than they can afford while they are already contending with tighter budgets and substantial Republican-led . warned that these cuts will lead to millions of Americans losing vital food assistance.
It is difficult to comprehend if one has never experienced hunger, but millions of American children lack access to sufficient food each day. In a recent [unspecified survey] of 1,000 teachers nationwide, three out of every four reported that their students are already arriving at school hungry.
Our children cannot learn if they are hungry. As a middle-school science teacher for over 30 years, I have witnessed the distress that hunger creates. This includes the student who skips breakfast to give it to her younger brother, the student who misbehaves because his stomach is rumbling, and the students who struggle in class after a weekend without a single full meal. Educators see this pain daily, which is why they go above and beyond—buying classroom snacks with their —to support their students.
Free school meals represent sensible and cost-effective public policy. They do not merely prevent hunger; they help children succeed. Decades of research reviewed by the shows that when students participate in school breakfast programs, behavior, academic performance, and academic achievement improve, and tardiness decreases. When I stand among bright and curious children, it breaks my heart that some are going without the food they need to learn and thrive—not because America cannot afford to feed them, but because adults in Washington decided they would rather spend the money on tax breaks for the ultra-wealthy.
The cuts stemming from the Republican tax bill will hit hardest in areas where families are already struggling the most, especially in rural and Southern states where school nutrition programs are a vital lifeline for many. In Texas, , nearly two-thirds of students, are eligible for free and reduced-price lunch. In Mississippi, , 99.7% of the student population, were eligible for free and reduced-price lunch during the 2022-2023 school year.
These are not abstract figures. These are real children who show up to school eager to learn but are instead distracted by hunger and uncertainty about when they will eat again. America’s children deserve better.
The established the foundation that public schools are places where children can receive a free breakfast and lunch each day. This should not be a partisan issue. For decades, Republican and Democratic administrations alike expanded school lunch programs, operating under the shared understanding that no child should go hungry at school in the richest country in the world.
However, the extreme right wing of today’s Republican Party has abandoned that moral consensus—eliminating these programs to provide another .
The Trump Administration’s blueprint in Project 2025 takes the anti-public education attacks even further by to and to direct tax dollars to private schools, as well as promoting ideologically-driven and classroom censorship.
And now, as the Trump Administration and its allies work to dismantle public education, they have also attempted to the National Education Association and our 3 million educators. They know we are powerful and vocal advocates for students and a formidable opponent to their attacks on public education. Last month, the relentless efforts of organized educators and our allies succeeded in obtaining the in education funds that had been withheld.
Together, we will fight forward: for where every student attends a safe, inclusive, supportive, and well-resourced public school, which includes nutritious meals for all students regardless of race or place.
We are educators. We do not quit. We will continue to engage with school boards, town halls, state legislatures, and Congress to advocate for students. Public education does not belong to politicians attempting to dismantle it. It is for every student, parent, and educator who understands its power to transform lives.
