Thousands of Des Moines Public Schools students are expected to feel the impact when federal food assistance funding runs out Nov. 1.

The cutoff of Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program funding from the federal government shutdown will affect more than 260,000 low-income Iowans who rely on the dollars to help pay for healthy meals.

And educators said at a news conference Thursday, Oct. 30, that as students come to school hungry, they will struggle to learn.

"Hunger is a thief," said Joshua Brown, president of the Iowa State Education Association. "It steals concentration. It steals memory. It steals the very foundation of cognitive development. You cannot expect a child to focus on mathematical equations when their body is only focused on survival."

Seventy-six percent of students

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