密歇根新闻广播 法案使低收入学校学生们的免费午餐变得更难实现

For many children living in poverty, hunger is an everyday reality, and going to school hungry can have a big impact on a kid's ability to learn.

That's one of the reasons why the federal government offers free lunches to low-income students.

As part of the Healthy and Hunger Free Kids Act of 2010, Congress made it possible for schools with a certain percentage of low-income students to offer free lunch to all of their students. It set up the Community Eligibility¹ Provision, or CEP.

A Republican-led bill currently making its way through the U.S. House would change the requirements of the CEP and make it harder for schools to qualify.

Supporters of HR 5003—The Improving Child Nutrition and Education Act—say it directs money to the neediest students. But opponents say it's a step backward in the fight against childhood hunger.

Zoe Neuberger, a Senior Policy Analyst² with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, joined Stateside to talk about CEP, the proposed changes to the program and what that could mean for school going forward.

"We should not have to make a tradeoff."

Neuberger told us that limiting the ability of the highest poverty schools to offer free breakfast and lunch in order to improve other programs, as she explains supporters of HR 5003 want to do, is a "false choice."

"We should not have to make a tradeoff," Neuberger said. "Children need to eat three meals a day year-round, and Congress doesn't have to make it harder to offer meals in one situation to offer them in another."

We also spoke³ with Mary Kurkowski, the Food and Nutrition Services Director at Port Huron Schools.

The district is in its fifth year of offering free meals through community eligibility.

According to Kurkowski, CEP has had a tremendously positive impact on her school district. Not only have the kids shown improved behavior and academic performance, she said, but the practice also eases the burden on families who might not be able to afford to adequately feed their children under normal circumstances.

1 eligibility   

n.合格，资格

参考例句：

• What are the eligibility requirements? 病人被选参加试验的要求是什么？ 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 回顾与展望
• Eligibility for HINARI access is based on gross national income (GNI). 进入HINARI获取计划是依据国民总收入来评定的。

2 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。