FYI: Less than a quarter of New York City public school students who already participate in the free school lunch program are also taking advantage of free breakfasts, according to a Community Food Resource Center “scorecard” on the program. Nationally, 40 percent of students who qualify for the federally-funded free lunches also get breakfast. CFRC points out that by not doing more to get poor kids into the program the city is also throwing away money, as it gets up to $1.54 in federal and state funds for every child it feeds. CFRC, however, also applauded the education department’s recent decision to open the free breakfast program to all kids in the school system, regardless of family income, as a positive step towards boosting participation. [11/6/03]