Program is designed to find poor students

By The Associated Press Comments 0
Published: November 3, 2009

WASHINGTON — Schools are doing a better job of identifying students who are eligible for free or reduced-price school lunches, but some states are much better than others, the Agriculture Department says in a report to Congress.

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At a Glance

Where state ranks

Seventy-eight percent of school-aged children from Oklahoma households receive food stamps were directly certified for free or reduced priced lunches by school in 2008-2009, according to federal officials. Oklahoma ranked 16 among the 50 states and the District of Columbia.

Kansas ranked 10th, according to figures, with 83 percent of students directly certified, while Texas directly certified 74 percent. Arkansas directly certified 71 percent of its students, the report showed.

In 2008-2009, 78 percent of schools identified eligible students by using government records of which households already receive aid like food stamps.

Use of the so-called direct certification method, the most efficient way to enroll school children in subsidized lunch programs, was up 11 percentage points from the previous year, according to the report.

Despite the overall improvement, the report shows a wide disparity in performance from state to state. The top four states — Alaska, Delaware, New York and Tennessee — all directly enrolled more than 90 percent of students from households that receive food stamps.

The bottom four — the District of Columbia, Idaho, Missouri and New Hampshire — directly enrolled 50 percent or fewer students whose families received food stamps.

Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said the report shows areas where states can improve.

Kevin Concannon, the USDA’s undersecretary for food, nutrition and consumer services, said the report "will help us share promising lessons from the most successful states.”