Feb 10, 2012
When poor children get breakfast in school the payoff is significant: academic performance improves and absenteeism, tardiness and discipline problems decline, according NM Appleseed’s new report that lists its legislative goals.
The report, “Full Stomachs = Full Minds, a Legislators’ Guide to School Breakfast,” explains the primary 2011 legislative priorities of NM Appleseed’s Hunger in the Schools project.
In the report, NM Appleseed calls on state legislators to pass a bill that would: maintain current funding levels for the state’s school breakfast program; focus funding on the neediest schools; and prioritize the serving of breakfast in the classroom as opposed to
the serving of breakfast before the official start of the school day.
The state, according to NM Appleseed, can get a substantial reimbursement for public schools if it spends more state dollars on school breakfast. Its analysis showed that 1.9 million in state money will feed 55,000 children and bring in $15.5 million dollars in federal reimbursement to schools.
The report references numerous studies that show a link between school breakfast and better education outcomes, including higher math and reading scores and a higher level of alertness.
Providing breakfast in school parallels first lady Michelle Obama’s goal of reducing childhood obesity because, according to the report, increasing participation in school breakfast programs lowers Boss Mass Index (BMI) levels. It might seem odd that providing more food in school helps kids lose weight but studies show that families in recent years are providing fewer meals in their homes and those they do prepare tend to be calorie laden and low in nutrients. School breakfast programs, on the other hand, must follow federal nutritional guidelines that require the preparation of healthy, well-balanced meals.
Despite the good news about serving breakfast in school, state legislators slashed $1.5 million in state funding for its school breakfast program for the current school year.
Now, with the state facing a $450 million deficit, New Mexico Appleseed is concerned about the possibility of further cuts. Passage of the bill NM Appleseed worked on would prevent the $1.9 million in state funds that was allotted for breakfast programs in 2010-11 from being reduced further in 2011-12.
“It’s understandable that the state of New Mexico is looking to cut expenses to improve its fiscal health but these cuts should no longer happen at the expense of the state’s children,” NM Appleseed Executive Director Jenny Ramo said.
In addition to trying to maintain current funding levels, the bill would require that: the state’s department of education distribute breakfast program money first to those schools with the highest percentages of children qualifying for free and reduced lunch; change the definition of instructional time to include breakfast in the classroom; require that schools in which 85 of the children qualify for free and reduced lunch make breakfast in the classroom available to all students.
Some 61 percent of New Mexico’s elementary schoolchildren are eligible for free or reduced lunch.
“This bill is about improving the lives and school performance of the state’s children,” Ramo said. “When it comes to the state’s priorities, what could be more important than that?”
To read the report in full, visit: www.appleseednm.org.