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All schools in my district through high school offer breakfast, but at a price. Families can apply for Free or Reduced Lunch status, and that also applies to breakfast.

I make sure my junior in high school son grabs at least a piece of fruit before leaving for the bus. He then has the option of also having what the school offers once he arrives there. More often than not, he has a small hot breakfast at school as well.

A nanny state would be forcing the kids to eat the breakfast. A school that offers breakfast free to all students because it's been proven to benefit the students is simply walking the walk on actually putting the students first.

@dhorst--I think this is a fantastic idea. Many studies have been done to show, to a frightening degree, how eating breakfast increases retention of knowledge. It's amazing how just a few extra calories in the morning can make the difference in a child's life--if say, algebra in the morning is given to a student with breakfast, the foundation for the child's mathematical life can be constructed for a long, long time.

The optimum word here is "free" as in free breakfast, a term found in the initial post. I'll bet the person who wrote that really thinks it is free.....it must be free because it came from the almighty government. Doesn't she realize that every damn penny that goes through the government's greedy fingers comes from us, the TAX payers?
If the school had promoted a book sale or a car wash to pay for the morning meals that would be a much different matter.
I heartily agree that breakfast for anyone is an important meal, but in this case because it the recipients did nothing to earn their meals. That's why I used the nanny state reference.

"WTF happened to kids eating at home in the morning? Hmmmm.... Kids should eat breakfast in the morning?! Brilliant!!! Damn, I sure am glad the Gov't told me that.... who would have known!?!

My mother worked a full time job her whole life and still managed to get up and make my brother and I breakfast each and every morning. And do you know what... It didn't kill her! Holy Schnikes! "

AMEN!

@tusti and pavlov - hate the parents who, for whatever reason, can't or won't take care of their kids, if you absolutely must. but does that mean their kids should be punished? what possible argument could you have against a school making sure that those five year olds who don't have the resources at home are being fed at school? is that really a worse expenditure of taxpayer dollars than the anything else in the government's budget?

Um, our tax dollars are paying for public education to ensure for a more educated citizenry. Unless you think parents should be financially responsible for all elements of a child's education, or homeschool them, ensuring that children are safe (through appropriate security measures), secure (decent school buildings without hazardous materials in the structure), and nourished enough to pay attention is part of the educational process. If a child is hungry, cold, or frightened for his or her life, that child won't benefit from a single thing taught in school.

@dhorst--thanks! It makes me think of 'Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs'--if your most basic needs (food, security) aren't fulfilled, you can't fulfill higher-level needs like attaining intellectual and emotional awareness.

@pavlov~taxes pay for our public schools so education is also not free. Are you saying that it's appropriate for children to be educated but starving? Or are you saying that they need to earn their food? Gosh, child labor laws exist in this country for a reason...

@pavlov - not all parents have the resources to give their kids money to buy breakfast. i worked in schools where over 50% up to 100% of the kids qualified for free or reduced meals. yes, some of these parents could do a better job parenting (although we don't know all of the things that prevented that), but a lot of them were doing their damnedest to raise their kids right and were still struggling - in which case having a free breakfast for the kids isn't some governmental overreaching but is just what we as humans should be obligated to provide for our children (it takes a village, and all of that).

also, having worked with five year olds - getting them to remember to bring the money to school, and not lose it, and pay attention to what's going on - some of them can do it, some of them can't yet. should those kids lose out on breakfast because they are still learning?

I wonder how many of you luminaries could get a passing grade on the 1895 exam for (I think) 8th graders that has been going around the internet? I'll guarandamntee you none of those kids back in 1895 had a free (government) breakfast or lunch for that matter. I'll further guarandamntee you that it didn't cost whatever the equiavalent was in 1895 dollars, to the now $18,000 a year per stuident (New Jersey) to educate those those kids. I'll go farther out on a limb by saying I'll bet a lot of those kids in 1985 came from households with as little income as the kids today who can't attord lunch money, but then the parents of the 1985 kids weren't bothered by having to pay for such things as cell phones or cable TV. (Go ahead and check the stats for cell phones and cable TV in most inner cities).
Oh yes, the public school system is in great shape. Along with the "free" food, we are treated with an army of make-work bureaucratic school administrators and corrupt selfserving teachers unions.Where do our stuidents rank in math and science?
Yessiree, if you like the school system, you're gonna love the Marxist health care joke that's heading our way.

First off, do you know who owns/runs Snpopes? A couple of left coast left wing activists and I sure wouldn't put it past them to slant things, but be that as it may, "And that "Marxist health care joke" that is coming? Works quite well in other countries." I suppose that's the reason that so many people from other countries beat a path to the US for medical treatment when they have serious health issues. You needent bother checking that with Snopes...it's a FACT. On the flip side, how many US citizens go to the UK or Canada or Italy or Saudi Arabia for ANY health care attention. Don't bother citing apricot pits in Mexico or smoking mushrooms in Peru or some other new age bull crap......it won't fly.

@Jeremiahc~Yup, and that's one of the things that's offered at our school's breakfast program. It's nice that elementary students are being offered a warm, filling start to their day, particularly when it's in the 20's and there's 3 ft. of snow on the ground.