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Rokita To State Board Of Ed: Parents Should Pay For Lunches, Not Government

Stan Jastrzebski
/
WBAA News

Representative Todd Rokita (R-4th) defended his proposed change to school lunch funding at Wednesday’s State Board of Education Meeting as a way to save the federal government money.

Today, schools can give everyone free lunch if four out of 10 students qualify for it. Supporters of that law say it can take more money to determine who qualifies for free lunch than it does to make lunch free for everyone.

Rokita has proposed a law to limit the number of schools that can offer the program.

At the State Board of Education, Rokita defended this move, saying the current situation gives free food to children who do not need it.

“When did we get to a point in this country when families aren’t responsible for feeding their children? And instead the government is,” Rokita says.

Rokita says his measure could save taxpayers around $1 billion dollars over ten years.

If passed, about 120 Indiana schools would no longer be able to offer free lunches school-wide.