Schools improve certification for school lunches

WASHINGTON (AP) - An Agriculture Department report says schools are generally doing a better job of identifying students who are eligible for free or reduced-price school lunches.

By: The Associated Press | WNCT
Published: November 03, 2009

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WASHINGTON (AP) - An Agriculture Department report says schools are generally doing a better job of identifying students who are eligible for free or reduced-price school lunches.
But the report also notes there's a wide difference among the states.
The report to Congress says that in 2008-2009, 78 percent of schools identified eligible students by using government records of households already getting aid. Use of the so-called direct certification method was up 11 percentage points from the previous year. Direct certification helps eliminate lengthy applications.
The report says the top four states - Alaska, Delaware, New York and Tennessee - directly enrolled more than 90 percent of eligible students.
But the bottom four - the District of Columbia, Idaho, Missouri and New Hampshire - directly enrolled only 50 percent or fewer.
A copy of the report was obtained by The Associated Press.