In June 2025, Texas Governor Greg Abbott vetoed a $60 million measure that would have allowed his state to participate in a federal summer lunch program for low-income children. The Summer EBT program would have given families $120 per student to pay for lunches during the summer of 2027, which would have been able to feed an estimated 3.75 million children across Texas.
This is not a one-time issue. Even as affordability issues ravage this country and the job market slumps, politicians seem unwilling to lend a helping hand to feed hungry kids. In Jan. 2024, 15 Republican governors rejected the same program, leaving some 8 million children without help that summer. This is not just a summer issue. For decades, the National School Lunch Program and similar programs have helped prevent students from going to school on an empty stomach. However, new cuts to the federal budget and SNAP have all but ensured that fewer students will be eligible for those programs.
Studies have consistently shown that food insecurity is detrimental to social and academic achievement. Yet, our elected officials are unable to significantly address this key issue. They are not only letting you down, but they are literally starving the future of America. And what is their excuse? Greg Abbott says he is only opposed to the program because of fiscal concerns about $60 million in a budget of $338 billion. In a fight about fiscal responsibility and federal overreach, we cannot forget about the human consequences.
We often speak about education reform in sweeping and abstract ways, including topics like curricula, school choice, AI use and standardized testing. But none of those matter if a child is showing up to school hungry, or is unable to show up due to food insecurity. Food is not an extra government benefit; it is a necessary element that should be guaranteed for every child.
If we truly believe that education is a pathway to the land of opportunity, then we must be ready to lay the foundation for that pathway. No partisan allegiance or political concern should ever step in the way of feeding children. No governor should ever turn down a program that allows students to stave off hunger. The wealthiest nation in the world should not tolerate classrooms filled with hungry children. Congress must act immediately to ensure that the budget for the school meal program is not cut but further expanded. No child should go to school hungry, period. Not in Texas, not in Massachusetts, not anywhere. If we fail at this most basic responsibility, then we are failing this nation’s future and should be ashamed of ourselves.
