Define "free". Schools are pressed to provide a wide variety of services that come with that word before the real action. But as many philosophers have noted "There ain't no such thing as a free lunch." The "free" lunch program is the result of good intentions gone awry. Originally it was set up as a way to provide nutritious meals to the most needy children in our society. As such, it was a noble experiment. It's fairly common knowledge that children who are adequately fed do better academically. Not having to listen to your stomach growl in hunger is definitely an academic advantage. But people should always be wary when the government comes with promises of assistance, because that which gives can also take away.

The so named "free lunch" program was started in 1946, established as the National School Lunch Act by President Harry Truman. As such it was meant to fulfill a need for low income and no income families in the years prior to welfare as we know it. The goal was a good one. But as with most government agencies, this program has mushroomed into a program that has little oversight and which often is abused by users who remain on the program even when their circumstances of life improve. In addition, children on these programs are often earmarked for academic enrichment programs such as Pre-K, Free after school care and even college scholarships. While it is certainly a good thing to provide for children in need, one has to wonder what the people who just miss qualifying for such programs think about it.

There are many cases of fraud. And since school districts receive money based on total free lunch numbers, there is little inclination to follow through with serious insight. There have been cases where families would get on the program, their lives would improve and they would simply not let the school district know things had changed. In that way, it is almost a type of robbery. In one case, a woman going through a bad divorce signed up her three children. Within the year, she had married, bought a new house and car, got a job as a police dispatcher and yet even with two adult incomes, kept her children on the program siting her ex-husband's failure to pay child support as the cause. These same kids later on got scholarships for college that were reserved for low income students-as evidenced by their enrollment in free lunch programs. Don't ask, don't tell seems to be the operative word.

And what of the rest of us? Frankly, the lunches offered

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