The economist Milton Friedman famously said (as have other economists) that there’s no such thing as a “free” lunch. Apparently, Dr. Friedman never visited New Mexico.
According to the National Center for Education Statistics, New Mexico has a higher proportion of its students on the federal free and reduced lunch program than any other state besides (thank you Mississippi). As seen in the chart we put together below, New Mexico has seen rapid growth in the proportion of students on the federal program, the parameters of which are often used as a proxy for poverty. Perhaps this is related to yesterday’s post on the dramatic decline in the number of working age New Mexicans who actually work?
On a personal note, many New Mexico schools now also provide breakfast in the classroom to all students regardless of need on top of the “free” lunch. If you are one of those crazy “old-fashioned” parents who actually decide to feed your kids at home (like me), wouldn’t that second breakfast at school conflict with Michelle Obama’s crusade against childhood obesity? Nah….
For a variety of valid reasons, in many cases the breakfast and lunch these children receive at school are the only meals they get all day.
It sure is easy to sit in an ivory tower and make judgments without getting all the information.
Once again, I challenge anyone reading this post to schedule a visit to your neighborhood public school and see the wonderful things taking place there. Then, after getting some real-world experience, come back and tell us what you learned.
The point isn’t whether or not we have free lunches for these children, it’s that our NM economic policies are so bad, there are few good jobs and little growth. This is really sad because New Mexico is a beautiful place with good people.
Hope they learn better then their parents did!