A Simple Boost for Education

A new study shows that more children are eating breakfast at school than four years ago. Not surprisingly, those children are performing better in school. That’s a confirmation of both previous studies and common sense. And as California goes forward with its plan to adopt statewide high school standards, education officials must remember that it’s the simple things that will make new standards work for children. Simple things like breakfast.

“It is crucial that kids have a nutritious meal before they start learning,” said one advocate for expanding the participation of schools in the breakfast program. “Hungry children don’t learn well.” That’s something your grandmother and mother knew without research, and it still applies.

The state Department of Education already offers start-up grants that encourage schools to participate in the school breakfast program; any school can offer a breakfast program because the federal government reimburses the school district for each meal.

Just as California has joined the national debate over what teachers should teach and what students should learn, shouldn’t it push even harder to ensure that no child start the school day hungry? Eliminating hunger at school would be a step toward helping students meet the new academic standards along with their schools. Educators already must deal with the challenges of bringing all students up to grade level and the difficulties of educating poor children and immigrant children, both a growing presence in California schools.

School breakfast is certainly making a difference at Baldwin Park’s Geddes Elementary School. Since it started serving breakfasts last year, principal Gloria Orozco says, student achievement has advanced by more than a full year in all but one graden. Most students are performing above grade level in reading and math--the two areas most important to achieving overall academic excellence.

There’s a documented connection between breakfast and school performance. The state effort for higher education standards should include a bigger state effort to encourage schools to offer a morning meal to any child who needs one.