The following is Amos Fodchuk’s “Final Word” from the Nov. 14, 2025 episode of “Education Matters” from the Public School Forum of North Carolina on the impact of political uncertainty on school nutrition.
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 impact students. Since then, the General Assembly still has not passed a state budget and the federal government underwent the longest shutdown in U.S. history. These political disruptions not only force schools to operate with uncertain funding for several education programs, they also pose the risk of increasing food insecurity for students.
Earlier this month, more than 1.4 million North Carolinians were set to lose their Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits as the federal government shutdown continued. Federal judges had ordered that emergency funds be used to keep the program afloat, temporarily. But the reality is that those emergency funds could not replace SNAP at its full capacity.
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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. As we saw during the shutdown, food banks, Community Schools, and local nonprofits are willing to step in to help fill gaps, but they were never designed to fix such 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, moments of federal or state inaction ripple through every part of our education system. Funding delays can jeopardize key grants that support early learning, special education services, teacher training, and rural broadband expansion. These same disruptions slow critical supports 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 across entire communities. For schools already operating on thin margins, even short-term interruptions can create long-term consequences for learning and well-being.
Delays in Washington and Raleigh mean a guessing game for classrooms across North Carolina. Without clear funding commitments, 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, indefinite waiting, and uncertainty surrounding the programs their families rely on. They deserve stable, predictable systems that prioritize their futures over political stalemates. During this a season defined by gratitude and giving, we call on lawmakers to provide the certainty our schools need to plan, hire, and feed every child who walks through their doors.
Thank you for taking time with us to learn and think about education.
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