Purpose/Objective: To describe the perceived benefits and barriers to move beyond Community Eligibility Provisions (CEP) and initiating Universal Free Meals (UFM) in all districts across the U.S. that choose to participate in the National School Lunch Program (NSLP) and School Breakfast Program (SBP). Methods: Cross-sectional survey conducted in…

The federal government has a long history of investing in programs for feeding children, starting with federal aid for school lunch programs in the 1930s. Today, federal child nutrition programs support food served to children in schools and a variety of other institutional settings. The child nutrition programs support meals and snacks served to…

The Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) of the Healthy, Hunger-Free Kids Act of 2010 allows school districts to provide free meals to all students if over 40 percent of them are directly certified as free-meal eligible. While emerging evidence documents positive effects on student behavior and academics, critics worry that CEP has unintended…

The Guam Department of Education (GDOE) is a single unified and accredited school district consisting of Kindergarten through 12th grade, which administers Head Start, pre-Kindergarten GATE programs, and is piloting Pre-Kindergarten classes at selected schools. The 26 elementary, 8 middle, 6 high and 1 alternative schools serve about 30,000…

The Guam Department of Education (GDOE, Department) is a semi-autonomous agency within the Government of Guam (GovGuam) and is primarily funded through the GovGuam General Fund. The GDOE is a single unified school district that serves just under 30,000 students (from Kindergarten to Grade 12). There are 26 elementary schools, 8 middle schools, 6…

Following the June 2019 Democratic presidential debates, school integration has unexpectedly emerged as a serious issue in the campaign. Coincidentally, this debate comes at a time when the National Coalition on School Diversity (NCSD) and a growing school diversity movement both inside and outside government are pushing to remove these last…

The first set of Democratic presidential debates in June brought to the spotlight issues of school diversity and equity, as Senator Kamala Harris asserted the importance of school integration, based on her own experience growing up in Berkeley, California, and criticized Vice President Biden for his anti-busing positions (and collaborations) in…

During the U.S. post-WWII recovery, appropriations for school lunch became codified in the 1946 National School Lunch Act, fueling program growth in the baby boom era to 18.9 million participating children by 1967, or about 42 percent of 45 million enrolled students. Then, in 1968, two reports funded by the Field Foundation of New York highlighted…

"Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world" Nelson Mandela (Strauss, 2013). Nelson Mandela's statement provides the basis for this article. Education provides a means of escaping the consequences of poverty. Children who live at or below the poverty level must overcome the detrimental effects of poverty…

This Quick Facts document provides a snapshot of facts about Alabama school systems and public schools; school personnel; student and educator profiles; financial data; pupil transportation; national school lunch, breakfast and after school snack programs; Alabama Math, Science, and Technology Initiative (AMSTI); access to virtual learning;…

The U.S. Department of Education (ED) funds and administers education programs for a variety of purposes and recognizes and rewards excellence and improvement by students, schools, and communities. As publicly funded schools, charter schools are eligible to apply for federal formula grants as well as discretionary grants administered by various ED…

The next President of the United States has an enormous responsibility--and opportunity--to provide an equitable foundation for a new generation of learners. The magnitude of the coronavirus pandemic has demonstrated the importance of schools as community anchors that children and families rely on for much more than an education. This document…

In 2002 the Council of the Great City Schools and its members set out to develop performance measures that could be used to improve business operations in urban public school districts. The Council launched the Performance Measurement and Benchmarking Project to achieve these objectives. The purposes of the project were to: (1) Establish a common…

Guam Department of Education (GDOE) is a single unified school district consisting of Kindergarten thru 12 grade. Its 26 Elementary Schools, 8 Middle Schools, 6 High Schools, and 1 alternative school serves nearly 31,000 students, and is managed by the Superintendent who is the Executive Secretary of a 12-member Guam Education Board (GEB). This…

The COVID-19 pandemic has upended life for students, teachers and everyone connected to public schools. The crisis has also exposed the fragilities of the economy in meeting the basic needs of all and highlighted the importance of the public sector, of community, and of care work. Schools are key public spaces of community and care. They must be…