The Bush administration is considering an audit of the national school lunch program to make sure that all the children receiving free and reduced-price lunches come from families that are truly low-income. The Department of Agriculture says about 28 million children get their lunch each day through the program, which cost .8 billion in 2002. A USDA study last year estimated that one in five children participating might be ineligible because the family's income is too high. USDA estimates that billion of the funding bought lunches for ineligible children. A family of four with an annual income of up to ,530 qualifies for free meals. Families that make ,485 qualify for reduced-price lunches costing up to 40 cents. Administration officials and lawmakers say they're trying to keep recipients honest while not scaring away needy families. What happens with the program won't just affect how many children receive free chicken nuggets, chocolate milk and canned fruit salad. States and school districts use the program figures to estimate poverty levels at schools, so the results also could affect the amount of government aid at all levels that makes its way down to struggling schools. Schools rely on parents to report their income but generally don't require proof. "When you start tightening up the scrutiny on these applications, families become fearful and they don't apply," says Gaye Lynn MacDonald of the school food service association. (Agencies) | 布什政府目前正在考慮審查全國(guó)校園午餐工程,核實(shí)是否所有享受免費(fèi)和優(yōu)惠午餐的孩子都來(lái)自名副其實(shí)的低收入家庭。 美國(guó)農(nóng)業(yè)部統(tǒng)計(jì),2002年共有2800萬(wàn)學(xué)生每天吃到午餐工程提供的午餐,為此美國(guó)政府一年共支出68億美金。農(nóng)業(yè)部的一份報(bào)告估計(jì),去年有五分之一享受午餐福利的孩子實(shí)際上家庭收入過(guò)高而不夠資格,他們大概吃掉了10億美金。 如果一個(gè)四口之家年收入低于23,530美元,孩子就可以在學(xué)校吃到免費(fèi)的午餐。而家庭年收入低于33,485美元的則可以吃到每份僅售40美分的低價(jià)午餐。 政府官員和立法者表示,他們希望所有申請(qǐng)?jiān)摳@娜藗兌寄苷\(chéng)實(shí),但同時(shí)又不會(huì)嚇退那些真正需要的家庭。午餐工程的意義不僅在于有多少孩子能吃到免費(fèi)的雞塊、巧克力牛奶和罐裝水果沙拉,它還可以反映出在校學(xué)生中有多少貧困生。因此午餐工程的統(tǒng)計(jì)數(shù)據(jù)還關(guān)系到那些經(jīng)濟(jì)拮據(jù)的學(xué)校每年可以從政府領(lǐng)到多少補(bǔ)助金。 學(xué)校要求申請(qǐng)這一福利的家庭如實(shí)匯報(bào)自己的收入,但一般不要求出示證明。校園飲食服務(wù)協(xié)會(huì)的蓋伊·林恩·麥克唐納說(shuō):"當(dāng)學(xué)校開始詳細(xì)審查申請(qǐng)福利人的資格時(shí),有些家庭就會(huì)害怕而不來(lái)申請(qǐng)了。" (中國(guó)日?qǐng)?bào)網(wǎng)站譯) |