Pennsylvania officials came under fire this week when they attempted to collect money owed for school lunches in one of the poorest districts in the state.

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Pennsylvania officials came under fire this week when they attempted to collect money owed for school lunches <[link removed]> in one of the poorest districts in the state. After failing to reach families through other modes of communication, the director of federal programs for the Wyoming Valley West School District sent a letter to about 1,000 families, who owed an average of $ 28, stating that:

“Your child has been sent to school every day without money and without a breakfast and/or lunch. This is a failure to provide your child with proper nutrition and you can be sent to Dependency Court for neglecting your child's right to food. If you are taken to Dependency court, the result may be your child being removed from your home and placed in foster care.”

County officials dismissed the threat <[link removed]>, assuring families that it was empty and would not be acted on. Ultimately, the incident was no more than a scare tactic by a handful of officials and an embarrassment to others <[link removed]>. But it highlights the real-world hostility toward low-income students <[link removed]> and families who struggle with hunger every day.

One in five children live in poverty <[link removed]> in the Wyoming Valley West School District. In the coming year, free lunches will be provided to all students in the district, because at least 60 percent of them meet the federal income threshold <[link removed]> to qualify for free school meals.

Across the country more than 30 million children participate in the National School Lunch Program. These kinds of programs not only move the needle on child hunger but increase students’ mental and physical growth <[link removed]>. Policies aimed at supporting single, working mothers also make a difference <[link removed]> in child hunger.

Right now, African-American and Latino children experience hunger at double the rate of white children in this country, in part because wealth inequality has widened along racial and ethnic lines <[link removed]> in recent decades.

This means that black and Latino children are more likely to be stigmatized for their poverty. Some schools physically separate kids who receive free or discounted lunches, sending an unintended and false message that affects perceptions of race among children.

There are ways <[link removed]> to feed children from low-income families without stigmatizing them or causing them to feel shame. But it falls on the shoulders of school administrators to commit to more equitable lunch policies <[link removed]>. Our own Teaching Tolerance project has created a toolkit to help educators <[link removed]> view lunchtime through an equity lens.

In the current climate, political support has waned <[link removed]> for food programs for the poor, to the point of hostility <[link removed]>. The SPLC is deeply concerned with one specific step the Trump administration has taken – one that would prevent an estimated 3 million people from receiving supplemental assistance for their food budgets.

A new calculation proposed by the administration would make the federal poverty line rise more slowly each year, pushing many low-income people over it. This would eventually reduce the number of families eligible for assistance programs – including school lunches – despite the fact that they would still be experiencing poverty.

You can make a difference on this issue, as the public comment period is still open for these changes until September 2019 <[link removed]>.

The only way to stop the Trump administration from redefining poverty is to speak out. We encourage people to tell their personal stories of needing food assistance and to urge federal policymakers to reject this plan.

The Editors
P.S. Here are some other pieces we think are valuable this week:

* Their children cry at night after border separation. These fathers are seeking damages for the harm they suffered <[link removed]> from CNN

* Their children cry at night after border separation. These fathers are seeking damages for the harm they suffered <[link removed]> from CNN
* YouTube said it was getting serious about hate speech. Why is it still full of extremists? <[link removed]> from Gizmodo

* Their children cry at night after border separation. These fathers are seeking damages for the harm they suffered <[link removed]> from CNN
* YouTube said it was getting serious about hate speech. Why is it still full of extremists? <[link removed]> from Gizmodo
* Barr directs federal government to reinstate death penalty, schedule the execution of 5 death row inmates <[link removed]> from CNN

* Their children cry at night after border separation. These fathers are seeking damages for the harm they suffered <[link removed]> from CNN
* YouTube said it was getting serious about hate speech. Why is it still full of extremists? <[link removed]> from Gizmodo
* Barr directs federal government to reinstate death penalty, schedule the execution of 5 death row inmates <[link removed]> from CNN
* Students of color with disabilities are being pushed into the school-to-prison pipeline, study finds <[link removed]> from ABA Journal












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