Growing up in Oklahoma I was taught these values – We keep our word. We help our neighbors. We don’t quit. Now, in our District, where 1 in 5 children live in poverty and 80% of Tulsa Public School students are economically disadvantaged – living up to those values is more important than ever. I’m running for Congress in Oklahoma’s First District to bring Oklahoma values back to Washington, D.C.
Perhaps the most important of those values is this – We help our neighbors. But that’s the value of least importance to MAGA Rep. Kevin Hern. That’s why Hern and his Republican Study Committee declared banning universal free school meals a priority.
This school year Tulsa Public Schools will offer one free breakfast and one free lunch each day to all students. The USDA’s Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) made that possible because of Tulsa’s high number of economically disadvantaged students. Hern is fighting to eliminate the CEP and stop students from receiving the nutrition they need to be attentive in class and improve academic performance.
I can promise you this – I will not quit until Congress has passed a Universal Free School Lunch Program for all students for all of America.
It’s alarming that 80% of Tulsa Public school children are economically disadvantaged. But 14 years of Republican control of every lever of Oklahoma’s government has taken its toll. And it’s getting worse as austerity politicians like Hern turn their back on Oklahoma children.
Politicians like Hern got us here at the bottom of every metric that matters. They won’t get us out.
With your help, I’ll be your Representative in Congress who will work to solve our problems. Oklahoma has one of the highest poverty rates in the nation. No Oklahoman should be proud of that or tolerate it. I pledge to you I will never tolerate Oklahoma children going hungry because elected officials are playing politics.
