Over 50 Percent of Public School Kids Get Subsidized Meals Marie Dennis January 21, 2015 News, Rebel Pundit 1 Comment A recent study done by the Southern Education Foundation showed that over half of the kids attending public schools from pre-kindergarten to twelfth grade are eligible for the free or reduced lunch program. The Washington Post reported on the study. The Southern Education Foundation reports that 51 percent of students in pre-kindergarten through 12th grade in the 2012-2013 school year were eligible for the federal program that provides free and reduced-price lunches. The lunch program is a rough proxy for poverty, but the explosion in the number of needy children in the nation’s public classrooms is a recent phenomenon that has been gaining attention among educators, public officials and researchers. To be eligible for free lunch, a student has to live in a household with an income totaling no more than 135% of the poverty threshold. For reduced lunch, it is 185% of the poverty threshold. The highest concentration of students in poverty are in the Southern and Western states. One Response SCOTT January 22, 2015 Care to guess how much of these funds are stolen? Reply Leave a Reply Cancel ReplyYour email address will not be published.CommentName* Email* Website Save my name, email, and website in this browser for the next time I comment. Currently you have JavaScript disabled. In order to post comments, please make sure JavaScript and Cookies are enabled, and reload the page. Click here for instructions on how to enable JavaScript in your browser. Notify me of follow-up comments by email. Notify me of new posts by email.