WASHINGTON, D.C. -- An Agriculture Department report says schools are generally doing a better job of identifying students who are eligible for free or reduced-price school lunches.
The report obtained by the Associated Press also notes there's a wide difference among the states.
The report to Congress says that in 2008-2009, 78 percent of schools identified eligible students by using government records of households already getting aid. Use of the so-called direct certification method was up 11 percentage points from the previous year. Direct certification helps eliminate lengthy applications.
The report says the top four states -- Alaska, Delaware, New York and Tennessee -- directly enrolled more than 90 percent of eligible students. Kansas enrolled about 83 percent of eligible students.
But the bottom four -- the District of Columbia, Idaho, Missouri and New Hampshire -- directly enrolled only 50 percent or fewer.
