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I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

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Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#71

Post by maxlybbert »

dataflow wrote: post #15

I'm confused about the mechanics of the process here. Could someone explain how paying off the lunch debt translates to hot meals? I'm confused because the fact that a continuous debt -- however the amount -- means your expenses exceed your revenue. So even if you pay it off... doesn't that mean when doors open tomorrow, there'll be new debt, and thus the problem will still recur? Or is the idea that the debt was dec…

The federal government provides money to schools so that schools can provide low-cost food in their the cafeterias. The food provided has to meet nutritional standards ( https://www.fns.usda.gov/nslp ). The federal government also sends some actual food to the schools ( https://www.fns.usda.gov/usda-fis ). Honestly, even with the subsidy and supplies, it’s hard to imagine how the schools provide much food.

Students from low income families can qualify for completely free lunch, and others can qualify for drastically reduced prices for lunch.

I don’t know if there are any federal requirements about how to handle students who forget or lose their lunch money, or students who normally bring their lunches to school but somehow forget or lose them. Most schools will have a specific policy, such as providing the food to the student and requesting the money later. The “debt” in question is between the school and the student, not between the school and its suppliers.

There is a relatively new policy (maybe ten years old) that schools with a large number of low income students can provide free breakfast and lunch to all students ( https://www.fns.usda.gov/cn/cep ), so school lunch debt would be an issue in areas doing just a little better than that.

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#72

Post by SSJPython »

GarnetFloride wrote: post #51
thinkingtoilet wrote: post #5

It's astonishing this is a thing. I'm thankful to live in Massachusetts where all kids can get lunch for free with no questions asked. Where I live, kids can get breakfast too, however I've heard that isn't universal in the state. The article points out another issue that is so widespread. Often times, being right above or below a cut off line can make a huge difference and it's kids just above the cut off line here…

Haven't you met people who refused a raise because they were scared of moving to a new tax bracket? Same thing only this is where it actually happens.

The only people that do this are ones that have no understanding of marginal tax rates and progressive taxation.

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#73

Post by [deleted] »

glitchc wrote: post #32
thinkingtoilet wrote: post #5

It's astonishing this is a thing. I'm thankful to live in Massachusetts where all kids can get lunch for free with no questions asked. Where I live, kids can get breakfast too, however I've heard that isn't universal in the state. The article points out another issue that is so widespread. Often times, being right above or below a cut off line can make a huge difference and it's kids just above the cut off line here…

Gradients would impose a significant burden on the bureaucracy. It's already complicated enough to figure out where a person's unique circumstances place them on various thresholds. Add gradients and the complexity grows exponentially. The net result would be a 100x increase in the number of public servants.

[deleted]

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#74

Post by ryandrake »

grimcompanion wrote: post #64
mmastrac wrote: post #37

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm pretty sure this is malice. They know, they don't do anything.

It's way too simple to categorize behavior like this into good/evil. It's a worthwhile thought experiment (and habit) to assume that everyone is trying to do the right thing, and try to understand how they might come to a different viewpoint than you.

Sorry, but my imagination is clearly not robust enough to even begin to steelman a policy that puts children into debt over near zero-cost food at school, often publicly humiliating the child at the same time, without just sounding like a cruel cartoon villain.

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#75

Post by Onawa »

MisterTea wrote: post #26
vlovich123 wrote: post #16

Earlier quoted context omitted.

[flagged]

If only those people knew the hardships some people face with mental issues which hinder their ability to function normally on a day to day basis. Some people cant pull themselves out of bed let alone their bootstraps.

The types of people who are against these social safety nets don't care. Unfortunately, they will only care if it directly affects them.

These people hold the mindset that if you are not disabled and don't have any learning disabilities, you should be able to pull yourself up by your bootstraps.

There isn't any room for nuance with them, they will just call people who are neurodivergent "lazy" and "welfare queens".

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#76

Post by ryandrake »

thinkingtoilet wrote: post #14
candiddevmike wrote: post #7

Earlier quoted context omitted.

During COVID, school lunch was free, and most school served free bag lunches over the summer too. That ended in June 2022. Congress could've kept it going for a pittance, but alas...

That's what happened in MA. It was COVID that started the program and then we kept it up because we're decent people.

A lot of the country, majorities in many states, are not decent people.

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#77

Post by explodes »

mmastrac wrote: post #37
DisruptiveDave wrote: post #33

Earlier quoted context omitted.

"never attribute to malice what can be attributed to incompetence"

I'm pretty sure this is malice. They know, they don't do anything.

I really wish people would exercise more imagination while applying the adage.

A cafeteria worker is likely doing what they're told to do from the principal and board of education. They're doing what they're told because of laws that have been passed. At any point along this chain of human beings, someone could be relying on their job to keep one of them family members alive.

I know I'm throwing out a random scenario, and that doesn't make it true, but there IS a story here, and it is one that none of us will ever know. There are so many human things that happen that people attribute directly to malice, especially when they have very little information.

Anyways. Point is. I really have a hard time blaming any individual here (except perhaps lawmakers) no matter how depressing the whole fiasco is. It is simply another unfortunate consequence of rigid policies that have serious impact.

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#78

Post by potato3732842 »

vlovich123 wrote: post #16
thinkingtoilet wrote: post #5

It's astonishing this is a thing. I'm thankful to live in Massachusetts where all kids can get lunch for free with no questions asked. Where I live, kids can get breakfast too, however I've heard that isn't universal in the state. The article points out another issue that is so widespread. Often times, being right above or below a cut off line can make a huge difference and it's kids just above the cut off line here…

[flagged]

>Because cruelty is the point for some people.

It's not the people peddling cruelty, it's the system. Though obviously people who personally are ok with or like that will be better represented in such a system.

> Or said in their parlance, it teaches you self reliance or to pull yourself up by your bootstraps.

Rephrased another way you're basically saying "it's not my team doing that, it's the other team." And this is exactly the kind of divisive garbage that perpetuates the system.

What these systems teach in practice is "don't you dare step an inch out of line, no, intent doesn't matter, out of line is out of line and will be punished" which in a perverse way is exactly the kind of thing government schools will wind up teaching because every bit you make those future adults more likely to comply will pay dividends in reduced enforcement over their lives. Support for that sort of crap generally crosses party lines, as does opposition.

Re: I decided to pay off a school’s lunch debt

#80

Post by giancarlostoro »

m-hodges wrote: post #66
giancarlostoro wrote: post #46

> $835. > ... > It was less than some monthly car payments. I'm not sure what kind of car, but that's way above any car payment I've ever had to pay. ;)

I just popped over to Honda's website and clicked through on a new CR-V. I went with the EX trim which is the 2nd cheapest of six available trims. After clicking next on every screen without adding any upgrades, it offered me $33,745 MSRP with 36-month financing at 2.49% APR, which came to $1,035/month.

For 3 years? Yeah that makes sense, but if you do 40k (think SUV / upgraded mid-sized car) at 70 months, at 5% its in the 750 range a month, which is still not quite that high. I can't imagine most people do 3 year car loans.
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