On the first episode of “Education Matters” this school year, we discussed legislative updates from the summer. One of the biggest concerns then was how funding uncertainty brought on by the lack of a state budget and temporarily withheld federal funding would affect students. Now, as we get closer to the holiday season, we still do not have a state budget and the federal government has shut down. This means on top of the uncertainty around education funding, many schools could soon be serving an increased number of students facing food insecurity.
Earlier this month, more than 1.4 million North Carolinians were set to lose their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program benefits until a federal court ordered emergency funds to be used to keep the program afloat, at least temporarily. Those emergency dollars help, but they don’t close every gap. They simply buy time.
When federal supports like SNAP fluctuate, the impact reaches far beyond household budgets. It lands squarely in our local public schools. Children who arrive hungry struggle to focus, and school nutrition teams must stretch limited budgets to meet growing needs. Food banks, community schools and local nonprofits will step in to fill gaps, but they were never designed to fix these issues alone. For every nine meals provided by SNAP, the current food bank system can only provide one.
The instability of these programs exposes a truth many of us would rather ignore: our safety nets are fragile. In the face of such uncertainty, the ripple effects are immense. Families can’t plan, schools can’t budget and students can’t thrive when the ground beneath them keeps shifting.
Beyond the cafeteria, a federal shutdown disrupts the very infrastructure that keeps schools running. This shutdown is now the longest in U.S. history and is threatening key grants that fund everything from early learning and special education services to teacher training and rural broadband expansion. Shutdowns also slow critical supports that many families and educators rely on outside of school, including housing assistance, child care subsidies and transportation programs. When those systems stall, the effects are felt throughout our communities. For schools already operating on thin margins, even short-term disruptions in federal programs can create long-term consequences for learning and well-being.
Ongoing delays in Washington and Raleigh mean a guessing game for classrooms across North Carolina. Without clear funding commitments at either level of government, districts are left to operate on hope and half-measures, trying to meet growing needs with dwindling certainty. Teachers, bus drivers and cafeteria workers show up every day regardless, but they deserve systems that show up for them too.
Our students deserve better than temporary fixes and indefinite waiting. They deserve stable, predictable systems that prioritize their futures over political stalemates. As we enter a season defined by gratitude and giving, it’s time for both state and federal lawmakers to pass budgets, fund essential programs and provide the certainty our schools need to plan, hire and feed every child who walks through their doors. Because when budgets are delayed and nutrition programs hang in limbo, it’s usually not politicians who pay the price, it’s citizens — both adults and our children.
