1. United States
2. Kan.
3. Letter

I am writing to urge you to oppose Kansas SB387, which would require families to reapply every year for free and reduced lunch benefits. I recently read Evicted: Poverty and Profit in the American City by Matthew Desmond, and it profoundly changed how I understand poverty in this country. One of the book’s clearest lessons is that people living in poverty are already burdened by constant administrative hurdles just to survive. Maintaining housing, food assistance, healthcare, and childcare often requires repeated paperwork, appointments, documentation, and compliance with rigid timelines. A single missed form, an unopened letter, or an unavoidable conflict can result in benefits being reduced or cut off entirely, regardless of continued eligibility. These are not isolated lapses in responsibility; they are predictable outcomes of systems that demand perfection from people whose lives are defined by instability. When benefits are lost, families are forced to stretch already impossible budgets even further, often choosing between rent, utilities, and food while trying to recover what was lost. Requiring annual reapplication for free and reduced lunch adds yet another hoop, this time with children paying the price. School meals are not a luxury or a convenience; they are a foundational support that allows students to focus, learn, and participate fully in school without the distraction of hunger. Introducing additional bureaucratic barriers increases the likelihood that eligible children will fall through the cracks, not because their families no longer qualify, but because navigating one more requirement became untenable. If the goal of education policy is to support student learning and well-being, then making access to food more fragile runs directly counter to that mission. Hunger undermines academic performance, behavior, and long-term outcomes, and the administrative cost of reapplication far outweighs any perceived benefit. I ask you to consider the lived reality of families already doing everything they can to stay afloat, and to oppose SB387. Policies should reduce unnecessary burdens on children and families—not add to them. Thank you for your time and consideration.