But that’s not on the agenda
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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.