Not to worry, Mr. Obama will save us all.

Parents not feeding their children should be put in PRISON for child neglect. A bowl of cereal and milk costs not more than 25 cents. There is NO EXCUSE for parents not feeding their kids before they are sent off to school. I will bet you the vast majority of these kids getting free school lunches have parents who are getting food stamps but are not feeding their own kids because they are too LAZY to get out of bed to do it.

Blame Mr. Obama or the government if it pleases you., But, remember, Mr. Obama is only one man and the government is just the tool of those wield it's power as history has shown. You must open your eyes and mind,shun those who preach hatred and fear and follow the money.

What do they do with the food stamps or EBT cards if they aren't buying groceries to feed their kids?

Is it a wonder that the government creates a program and people rush to take advantage of it. I would like to see a real story, one that investigates and follows a half dozen or so "new" families to the program.

gmamonk, I wondered the same thing. Since they can't be bothered to feed their kids breakfast or lunch does that mean that the state can decrease the amount that they are paid in food stamps or their EBT cards?

And we are debating whether or not to contribute millions of state dollars toward a 1.1 billion dollar stadium where the Vikings will play 8 games a year? What does that tell you about our values?

Thumper, I have wondered this for a long time but am usually aced when I mention it. It is not only breakfast and lunch but how about sending home the evening meal and meals for the weekend? It would be educating to just get the actually dollars and cents once instead of the percentages. I don't want anyone to go hungry but.......

great... now we have to redraw our boundaries *again*; and bus more kids around... to make our new FRP numbers fit - just when we thought we had it all figured out!!

@grizzly2011--I'm happy that you are concerned about children, as we all should be. However, these days a gallon of milk at Cub costs $3.89 and a box of name-brand cereal (without coupon use) is typically $4.00+. No one is able to to put a bowl of cereal with milk on the table for one child for 25 cents these days. For 2-3 kids, especially if they are older than grade school age, one box of cereal and a gallon of milk will last two days, at most. In these tough times parents are making decisions as to which is worse, not being able to pay for housing or not being able to pay for food. They are the hidden poor. Where, previously, teens might have been able to help their families with part-time jobs, traditional jobs for kids like paper-routes and fast-food jobs are held by under-employed adults. In the suburbs, where public transportation is either not available or runs infrequently, it can be difficult, sometimes, just to transport groceries if the family no longer has a car or can't afford to repair it or buy gas for it. This is a new reality for people who are used to a middle-class life-style and have never known anything else. It is hard for them to learn to adapt, sometimes. Whatever the reason, it is not in our communities' best interests for the children to suffer. What good does it do to humiliate people? Although I do not have unlimited funds, myself, I always plan to buy at least $10.00 worth of food, toiletries, baby supplies, cleaning products, etc. to put in collection boxes at Cub or Rainbow when I buy groceries. Sometimes, when I think that I can share more, I will buy $40.00-50.00 worth of things for the boxes. If everyone would buy even one box of cereal for the collections boxes, when they purchase groceries for themselves, it would go a long way toward helping kids in need. No contribution is too small.