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Education is at a Crossroads: Help Us Illuminate the Path Forward.听

Two-thirds of Ohioans support a universal free school breakfast and lunch program for all public school children, according to a Republican research firm.

鈥淭his is extremely rare in a time where voters are really reluctant to support further spending, either at the state or federal level,鈥� Alexi Donovan, vice president of Tarrance Group Polling, said Monday during the monthly meeting.

This month鈥檚 meeting heard testimony on the importance of universal school meals and Tarrance Group Polling surveyed 600 Ohio voters about this topic in May.

鈥淚t is clear from the research and the data over the years, universal school meals help students thrive, physically, mentally, socially and educationally,鈥� said John Stanford, director of Children鈥檚 Defense Fund鈥揙hio.

In Ohio, 1 in 6 children, or about 413,000 kids, live in a household that experiences hunger. Despite that, more than 1 in 3 children who live in a food insecure household do not qualify for school meals, according to a from Children鈥檚 Defense Fund-Ohio.

鈥淲e believe that in a country as wealthy as we are, we should not have hungry children,鈥� said Lisa Quigley, director of .

Exposing students to various fruits and vegetables through school meals helps them get a taste for 鈥渇ood that鈥檚 far more nutritious than what a lot of them are bringing to school,鈥� she said.

鈥淲hat we鈥檙e finding in the schools that are doing universal school meals, the food is getting better,鈥� Quigley said.

National security

Children鈥檚 hunger is a national security issue, said Cynthia Rees, Ohio鈥檚 director for the Council for a Strong America.

The that found 77% of young people between the ages of 17 and 24 are ineligible for military service without a waiver. The most prevalent disqualification rate was for being overweight at 11%, above drug and alcohol abuse (8%) and medical/physical health (7%).

鈥淚t is critical to recognize that overweight and obesity can often be manifestations of malnutrition, food insecurity or the lack of access to affordable healthy foods often result in consuming cheaper and more accessible food, which often lack nutritional value,鈥� Rees said.

The food insecurity rate for Ohio children is 15%, with some counties having rates up to 24%, Rees said.

鈥淚ncreasing children鈥檚 access to fresh and nutritious food now, including through free school meals for all students, could help America recover from the present challenges and bolster national security in the future,鈥� she said. 鈥淭he military has a long standing interest in the health and nutrition of our nation鈥檚 youth.鈥�

Universal school meals would eliminate the stigma of categorizing students who receive free and reduced meals and those that don鈥檛, Rees said.

鈥淚nstead, all students can just have a meal together,鈥� she said. 鈥淲hen we make school meals accessible to all, we remove that stigma.鈥�

Ohio legislation

Last year鈥檚 budget bill allowed any student who qualified for free or reduced school breakfast or lunch got those meals for free during the 2023-24 school year.

Currently in Ohio, children are eligible for free or reduced school meals if their household income is up to 185% of the federal poverty line, which is $57,720 for a family of four, according to the .

State Reps. Darnell Brewer, D-Cleveland, and Ismail Mohamed, D-Columbus, introduced a bill earlier this year that would require public schools to provide a meal to any student that asks.

would also ban a district from throwing away a meal after it was served 鈥渂ecause of a student鈥檚 inability to pay for the meal or because money is owed for previously provided meals.鈥� The has only had sponsor testimony so far in the House Primary and Secondary Education Committee.

is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Ohio Capital Journal maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor David Dewitt for questions: info@ohiocapitaljournal.com. Follow Ohio Capital Journal on and .

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