But that’s not on the agenda
As lawmakers continue maneuvering to secure passage of legislation that would transfer hundreds of millions of taxpayer dollars to unaccountable private schools, they also continue ignoring a glaring need.
According to a recent article in Salon, students in K-12 public schools in Tennessee owe a total of more than $50 million in school lunch debt.
“. . . according to 2024 statistics from the Education Data Center, on a state-level, Tennessee has $51,610,062 in student lunch debt and about 285,770 food insecure students.”
If we have $144 million for school vouchers, we have $50 million to cancel school lunch debt.
The total projected cost of the voucher program at full implementation is in excess of $700 million a year.
You know what else would cost just over $700 million a year?
Providing free breakfast and lunch to all Tennessee K-12 students every day.