Any educator can likely tell you – first-hand – that hungry students have trouble learning. Kids focus on food rather than their school work, and research shows that their brain development and overall ability to learn suffer as a result. This is particularly troubling as 1-in-9 children in Colorado is food insecure.

School meals are key to making sure no student faces hunger during the school day. Nearly 30 million students participate in school lunch programs nationwide – three-quarters of whom typically qualify for free- or reduced-price meals – according to pre-pandemic data.

Since COVID-19 arrived in the U.S., families have faced increased financial hurdles from job loss to inflation. Here in Colorado – one of the most expensive states in the nation to raise a child – our families are feeling the added burdens. A reprieve came in 2020 when Congress gave United States Department of Agriculture authority to issue child nutrition waivers, which permitted districts to serve meals to all students at no cost – also known as “universal school meals.” Universal school meals saved each participating family $750 per child annually.

But families stand to lose that savings. And, most devastating, many children will lose access to food they need to learn –  very soon. Unless we take action, school meals for all will expire on June 30. Where Congress has failed, Colorado recently took action passing a bill to send a question to voters in the fall to provide long-term funding for the school meals program.

Ending universal school meals would be devastating for schools, students and families in Colorado. Children get up to half of their daily calories at school, and for many children, schools are the only consistent source of nutritious food – a basic need. Students rely on these meals year-round, both during the school year and over the summer.

In the past, students in need often missed out on free or reduced-price meals because parents were too intimidated or felt shamed by the personal information required by the application. As a result, teachers – out of the goodness of their hearts – often are faced with the choice of whether to help a student pay for a meal out of their own wallets, provide food in the classroom for students, or let their students go hungry. This burden should not be inadvertently placed on teachers’ shoulders, we do not earn enough in the first place, much less enough to ensure our kids have enough food so they are ready to learn.

The simple fact is that too many families do not have enough food to eat. Now, as Colorado families and schools are slowly beginning to recover from the pandemic, is not the time to make access to food harder than it already is for our students.

Colorado policy makers passed the bill. Now voters get a chance to step up and support a ballot measure to make school meals for all free of charge permanent in Colorado. It would also allow participating districts to feed students locally grown food from Colorado through grants. A recent poll showed that a majority of voters from across the state support this measure. California and Maine have already passed similar bills and similar campaigns are underway in other states. This is a chance for Colorado to join California and Maine in leading the nation to ensure our students are well fed and ready to learn.

This is our opportunity to do the right thing and ensure our public education system simply includes a need so very basic to our lives: food. And it’s just as essential as books for learning.

We owe it to our kids to make universal school meals permanent.