In a definite strange twist of fate, federal officials have decided they aren't going to make parents of poor students fill out paperwork for the children to get free lunches.
That means that more than 120,000 students will continue to get fed for free through the Universal Feeding program and Philadelphia will remain the only city allowed to provide those meals without the red tape.
A USDA spokeswoman said the agency had "postponed making a decision" on the program until Congress considered a national update of child nutrition programs, Philly.com reports. (Congress is expected to consider a reauthorization and overhaul of the Child Nutrition Act later this year.)
Backers of the school breakfast and lunch program say parents in poor communities don't always fill out the paperwork and school meals are sometimes the only meals the children get each day, according to the AP. Not requiring applications also takes away the stigma from the program, advocates of the progam added.
Agriculture officials had argued that it's unfair that Philly is the only city that gets such an exclusion.
But that may not last for long. New York City and Los Angeles said they too hope to follow in the City of Brotherly Love's footsteps.
