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Claire Breen

Dissertation

Who Pays the Price?: The Shifting Terrain of the National School Breakfast and Lunch Programs in the U.S.

My dissertation examines inequities in the financing of school meal programs. I utilize census data on school district finances from the National Center for Education Statistics to present evidence on inequality in paid meal revenue and state funding allocated toward school nutrition programs across school districts and across states. Moreover, I utilize a difference-in-difference approach to examine whether a change in the federal reimbursement structure through the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP), a mechanism for schools to provide universally free meals, has an effect on reducing these inequalities. In my final aim, I utilize these results to inform case studies of North Carolina school district meal programs at varying levels of paid meal revenue to examine the effects of differing levels of paid meal revenue on school meal program finances and administration.

About Claire

Claire Breen is a Ph.D. candidate in Public Policy. Her work focuses on understanding the role of U.S. food assistance programs in improving the health and wellbeing of children and their families. Prior to entering our doctoral program, Claire worked to improve the operation of child nutrition programs in her home state of Nebraska. Her background has directly informed her dissertation research which examines inequities in the financing of school meal programs. Claire has a Bachelors of Arts in Public Policy from Duke University.

Claire Breen