How a federal free meal program affected school poverty stats [hechingerreport.org]
In 2014, schools had a new way to give students free breakfast and lunch, paid for by Uncle Sam. Instead of asking low-income families to apply for the meals, a school district could opt to give everyone free food if at least 40 percent of the student population was already on other forms of public assistance or fell into a needy category, such as being homeless or in foster care. This new “ community eligibility ” option was a policy change by the U.S. Department of Agriculture, which...