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Katie Couric's Notebook: Summer Meals
No more pencils, no more books. No more teachers' dirty looks! That little rhyme is a favorite among kids celebrating the last day of school before summer.
But for many kids, summer also means no more lunch, and that's nothing to celebrate.
The Center for American Progress reports that nearly 20 million children get free or reduced-price lunch at school. But only one in six of them will receive subsidized meals this summer.
Part of the problem is a shortage of sites where the lunches can be served, and a lack of transportation to help kids get to them. Meanwhile, the groups that run these programs often have trouble sustaining funding from year to year.
Congress is now working on a child nutrition bill that would, among other things, improve access to summer meals. That bill is essential.
Nearly one in four children is at risk for hunger. The last day of school shouldn't mean last call for lunch.
That's a page from my notebook.
I'm Katie Couric, CBS News.
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