Increasing the amount of money allocated to schools on a per-pupil basis has been suggested by Republicans in the Michigan House of Representatives, while simultaneously decreasing funding for free breakfast and lunch programs that are now serving hundreds of thousands of children across the state.
According to Feeding America, there are 402,000 children in the state of Michigan who are at risk of not having enough food to eat.
This plan comes just two years after the state of Michigan expanded its free meals program to include all students, a program that many families have come to rely on heavily.
Because of them, my family is going to suffer. It is going to be more difficult for me to deal with them,” Elissa Penczar had stated.
Penczar had just recently learned that her husband had passed away when the state of Michigan began providing free breakfast and lunch to all children in grades K-12.
I thought to myself, “Oh, thank goodness, this is something that I don’t have to be concerned about.” “As if it were already challenging enough to get out of bed in the morning and make it through the day,” Penczar remarked.
It has been determined by the Department of Education of Michigan that Penczar’s twins are among the 491,000 children who took advantage of the free school breakfast program in the previous year.
The Republicans in the Michigan House of Representatives approved a spending plan in the middle of June that eliminated around $200 million that had been designated for meal programs such as Healthy School Meals for All.
It is a fact that we raise the amount of money allocated to each student by $2,392 per pupil. Representative Bryan Posthumus, a Republican representing the 90th House District, offered the following explanation: “The idea is that in this way, local school districts will have the ability to continue that programming if they believe it is beneficial.”
According to Posthumus, that does not necessarily mean that school districts will lose meals, but rather that they will gain flexibility.
The advantage of doing things in this manner is that the local school systems will be held accountable for their respective actions. They are representatives who have been elected, right? Regional school boards are what they are. Posthumus stated that they will be held accountable to the people who voted for them.
Kristen Lorenz, a registered dietitian, is of the opinion that there is an advantage to assigning money only for the purpose of providing free nutritious food.
In my experience, children are eating more fruits and veggies. It has come to my attention that they have a greater availability of fruits and vegetables,” Lorenz stated.
Penczar claims that she has witnessed the effect that it has had on her children.
“Oh, without a doubt, my kid, ever since he was a young child, we have known that he had a tendency to become ‘hangry. In a minute, he would be so out of sorts if he did not have a snack, and he would be ‘hangry’ with hunger. When we are at school, we never go hungry, as they will tell you. “We are doing well,” Penczar stated.
The plan is not yet finalized at this point. For it to become law, it must first receive approval from the Senate, which is controlled by Democrats, and then receive the signature of the governor.
While redistributing free meal programs, Republicans in the Michigan House of Representatives suggest increasing funding for schools.
